From Zero to Infinity
by Flagarach
Summary: In the latest chapter of "From Zero to Infinity": The first battle is over, but is everything really what it seems? Battles are fought, alliances are formed, and people die! Especially when they are killed. What kind of turns will this war come to see? See it in chapter 3: Second chances!
1. Before Zero

**[Records of world: Earth-7731]  
[Time: 03-02-1992 to 12-02-1992, according to the native human Christian calendar.]  
[Location: Fuyuki City, Japan.]**

**[Prologue]**

**[20****th**** of January, 21:48|2 weeks before Point Zero]**

Kirei did not have a good day. Scratch that, his entire week was bad and to some extent everything that happened starting 3 years ago was bad.

That was the moment when red marks appeared on his right hand: so-called command seals, which prove that he is a participant in the Holy Grail War: a war whose winner will be allowed to have his wish, his sole desire, granted. The problem of Kirei however is that he lacks a wish, and thus a reason to participate. His father, Kotomine Risei, is a good friend of one of the three founders of this war, and ordered his son to assist that friend in battle so that they could reach the root, the wish (or at least supposed wish) of every magus. And thus Kirei was transferred from the Church to the Magus Association, trained in various magecrafts, and all seemed well… at least, until 2 weeks before the start of the Holy Grail war, when his package with the catalyst, an item associated with a hero of legend, would arrive.

When Kirei and Tokiomi opened the package, they found that their catalyst, the mask of the 19th of the Hassan-Il-Sabbah, was shattered like a porcelain teacup that was dropped from the Big Ben.

Risei entered the room, noticing the looks of displeasure and annoyance on the faces of his son and friend. "Risei," Tokiomi asked with a small hint of anger, "What kind of transport system did you use for delivering the package?"

"I made use of a company named FedEx, why do you ask?" Tokiomi took Risei by the hand and showed him the leftovers of the catalyst, proving once and for all that if you want to be sure that your package is in good hands, you don't let FedEx be those hands.

Taking the remains of the mask, Kirei went to one of the Tohsaka hideouts scattered through Fuyuki. Inside of this hideout was an already-prepared summoning circle, so he only had to speak the spell associated with the summoning. Placing the remains on the altar in front of the circle, he started chanting, hoping that the broken remains would still do their job.

Sadly enough, it wasn't meant to be. When the ritual was over, Kirei did not see a Hassan stranding in the circle. Instead, there was… a clown. A clown… Kirei, somewhat surprised by this new development, wondered how this person in front of him became a heroic spirit. What made it worse was the looks of this 'hero'… if you can call it that: a male of average height and posture, wearing a purple suit with green waistcoat and tie; The thing that really made him stand out was his face: it was painted white, just like his somewhat messy hair is painted green, the area around his eyes was painted black, and his lips were painted red… with the red streak continuing over the cheeks, making it look like he has one big red smile going from cheek to cheek. All in all, this person would be the ultimate assassin… against people with coulrophobia, that is.

"Are you… Assassin?" Kirei asked to the thus far silent man. This man turned to his master, before throwing out a small laughter.

"Assassin? Theoretically, yes; I am here as Assassin, but if you ask me personally? I really think it doesn't fit me. Assassins are all busy playing secret agents, making sure that everything goes to plan. But me? I don't plan. Where would be the fun in that? When I think: 'He should die', then I make sure he dies, and vice versa… though the latter one doesn't happen often… bats not included. If you want to call me by a more fitting alias, I guess you may call me Murderer. Or maybe…" Murderer suddenly took out a card from one of his pockets, and threw it into the wall behind Kirei, missing him by an inch.

Picking up the card that was surprisingly sharp (Kirei could easily slice some true ancestor in 17 pieces with it if he ever met one), he looked at the contents: it was the 53rd card from the deck, also known as the joker… "So, my little friend, seeing that this is clearly not Gotham, how do we get there as fast as possible?"

Kirei thought for a few moments, trying to remember any city with the name Gotham… but he couldn't think of one, and asked where exactly Gotham was located. "Don't you know any geography, master?" He somewhat angrily replied while sarcastically noting their relationship, "It is Gotham! Big American city with millions of people, a lot of crime, although that probably deteriorated after my disappearance… oh yeah, and most importantly, it is home to that Bat…" His face, twisted in an awkward combination of joy, love, anger, hate and compassion as he spoke out that last word, looked at Kirei, hoping to get a good answer this time, or he would kill him… at least, he wanted to, but that stupid Grail had a fail-safe that prevented murdering of one's own master. Bah.

"There is no city in America, nor anywhere else in the world that is named Gotham, nor do I know of any special bats that should live there." As Kirei said this with his usual emotionless expression, he was allowed the privilege to see one of the faces Assassin almost never makes: a combination of shock and horror, which soon turned into rage.

Dashing at his master, Assassin grabbed the collar of said man, shaking him while furiously asking where the hell Batman is.

But Kirei said that he doesn't know Batman. Even after Assassin explained who he was, Kirei gave only one response: "This Batman you talk about does not exist. Maybe he is a hero of the future or of the past, but not one of now. So Assassin, stop shaking me and put me down lest I use a command seal." There was no anger in his voice; no madness, no joy, no anything! The only thing that was found in his answer is just a straight-up answer that Batman, his arch-nemesis, his only thing worth living for, did not exist.

Dropping his master without any caution, he slowly staggered to the exit, mumbling and ranting about the worth of life and the nonexistence of Batman.

Kirei looked at his broken servant, and wondered how high the chance was that he got the strangest servant in the entire Grail war.

**[27****th**** of January, 12:59|1 week before Point Zero]**

The Tohsaka manor had quite a few secret rooms, passages and other hidden stuff. Among those was a single chamber that was usually filled with absolutely nothing, and was used to either practice magecraft or meditate. At the current moment in time, it was filled with a single chair, and upon this chair sat a single man: he was dressed in an ordinary brown suit, and his brown hair was styled in the most stereotypical '40-years-old parent' way. All in all, he looked quite average.

This person is none other than Assassin. Sitting in the chair like a lifeless doll, he didn't eat, drink, sleep, or even anything! And he's doing it for almost seven days straight! The two masters of the Grail war, Tokiomi and Kirei, were observing this shell:

"So, Kirei, have you noticed any changes in the behavior of Assassin?" Tokiomi asked with slight concern.

"Nothing whatsoever. He has done nothing for seven days straight."

Tokiomi was slightly distressed by this. After all, his original plans for the war became useless. Several starting strategies he created, like faking discord between himself and Kirei or faking Assassin's death became, well, useless. So he had to devise a few new ones.

The main advantage in this Grail war is that only he (And Kirei, but he's not an enemy, so he's not a counted factor) knows that Assassin is currently, and as far as it seems continues to be unable to fight. There has to be a way to take advantage of that…

Tokiomi thought of several strategies before he suddenly started to smile: he found a new strategy. Taking Kirei closer to him, he explained his new plans and showed how some other plans were still usable if they adapted them in just the right spots.

As he was done with explaining his strategies, he returned to the study, making some of the final preparations for his own summoning. Since if he could get his hands on Gilgamesh then surely, the Grail should be reached!

Sadly enough for Tokiomi, things tend to go out of hand when it comes to the summoning of Servants. But hey, it is the person who can make the best out of the cards he has been given that will win the Holy Grail, and have his wish granted. So let us see how the next master will use his cards:

**[30****th**** of January, 15:05|4 days before Point Zero]**

In a snowy mansion in Germany, the man known as the magus killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, was inspecting his equipment once again, making sure he was fully prepared. Instead of the equipment of a usual magus, there was more… practical equipment: Guns instead of wands, grenades instead of magic jewels, C4 instead of books and the list goes on. The only magical item lying around was another gun, the Thompson Contender, a gun which focuses on destroying the magic circuits of a mage, preventing them from using magecraft ever again. It was truly a weapon to be feared…and today, he would gain another weapon: A servant.

For the upcoming Holy Grail War, he would summon a servant 4 days in advance. This would normally be considered early, but it is a necessity: You see, the Einzbern he is working for gave him the legendary noble phantasm Avalon, sheath of Excalibur, belonging to the legendary king Arthur. His contractor hoped that he could summon this king as their servant. But king Arthur is only summonable as a Saber, and since that class is viewed as the most desirable, it is also a class that runs out of stock very early… so Kiritsugu's summoning should happen before everyone's else, and was thus scheduled for today.

Yet Kiristugu couldn't stop having doubts about this servant. While he has absolutely no doubts that king Arthur would be strong, he was more worried about the compatibility.

There are two important factors for every master-servant pair in the Grail War: Strength and compatibility. Strength is simply the strength of the servant: The stronger, the better. Compatibility is how well master and servant get along. While it might be considered less important and a strong servant with low compatibility can still win the Grail War… you should still remember that he will most like have a different master at his side than the one with which he started.

And that was Kiritsugu's problem: He knew that King Arthur was a paragon of chivalry, while Kiritsugu used every single dirty trick in the book to win. In other words, their compatibility would be somewhere between nil, nada and nonexistent. This gave Kiritsugu a second thought, a new possibility to take: Summoning a servant without a catalyst.

If he did that, he would be sure to get a compatible servant, but the power of said servant may vary. And worst of all, his boss, old man Acht, would probably not forgive him if he just summoned something without the carefully selected catalyst that cost the Einzbern thousands of Marks. Therefore he had his assistant create something for him: a fake relic.

It was a copy of Avalon, the sheath of Excalibur, but without its magic properties. If he used this, he was sure to get a compatible servant, probably one who would be more capable to act in the same way he does.

And so, Kiritsugu took the fake Relic with him to the location of summoning: A small chapel somewhere in the Einzbern forest. Placing the fake relic on the Altar, he drew the magic circle using a combination of various liquid metals. While he was doing this his wife, Irisviel von Einzbern, walked in on the preparations, and stayed with him.

As Kiritsugu explained several things about the Holy Grail war to his wife, he continued with creating the circle. When it was finished, he stood up and began the rite.

Chanting the incantation, he watched the circle grow brighter and brighter, until it shone so bright that it temporary blinded his eyes. Before his sight returned, his ears heard the proof that the summoning succeeded.

"Upon your summoning, I have come forth. Now, are you my master?" Kiritsugu was pleased, surprised, and disappointed. While slightly happy that the summoning was successful, he didn't expect his Servant to have a female voice. And when his eyesight returned, he was absolutely sure:

His Servant is female. She was a girl in her teens, with long black hair and red eyes. Her outfit is a black, sleeveless mini dress with a white collar and red tie and belt, and her hands are covered in red gauntlets and black gloves. Around her feet were black shoes and socks, and covering it all was a long black coat.

Kiritsugu, still speechless from this… unexpected servant, did nothing as his servant walked up to him and grabbed his right hand, inspecting it for the command seals. "Well, it seems like you are my master. Let's discuss our plans for the upcoming battle." Grabbing Kiritsugu by the hand, they walked, or in Kiritsugu's case, got dragged out of the holy place.

**[31****st**** of January, 10:56|3 days before Point Zero]**

In the snowy forests of the Einzbern, Kiritsugu walked with his daughter, Illyasviel von Einzbern. As he enjoyed the walk, he couldn't help but think about his own servant Saber.

She was truly a perfect match: Instead of a noble knight, he summoned a skilled killer, someone who would normally be more fit as an Assassin. She was perfectly willing to use dirty tactics to pursue her goals or betray alliances to take out an opponent. Sure, Acht gave Kiritsugu a big scolding for 'failing the summoning', but in reality he was even more successful. Now wha-

"Daddy, I've found one!" Shifting his attention from his thoughts to his surroundings, he noticed that Illya took the lead in the walnut bud searching contest that was going on between the two of them. Kiritsugu, trying to form at least some competition, searched around until he found one of his own.

"Daddy has found one too, you know?" Illya, surprised by this sudden event, walked over to her dad, seeing the other, slightly different bud that is going to bloom in a few months.

"Eeh, that's not a walnut branch."

"No, Illya." Kiritsugu explained wih a gentle smile on his face, "This is called a wingnut. It's a variety of walnut." Placing a soft hand on Illya's shoulder, he told her that it still counts as one.

Illya turned to Kiritsugu with an angry look on her face. "No fair!" She wildly flung her body around, angry at Kiritsugu for the fact that "You've been cheating the entire time!"

"But daddy can't win otherwise." Kiritsugu admitted. Kiritsugu did have to think how wise it was to use his usual cheating tactics against an eight year old girl, but considering that that is what he did best, he had no regrets. After all, it was pretty much the only path he ever took... his whole life was unlimited pragmatism works.

Humphing, Illya turned away from Kiritsugu, claiming that "If you keep cheating, I won't play with you, Kiritsugu!"

Putting his hands in front of his face and bowing slightly, he apologized with both words and deeds, promising Illya that he would play fairly… this time. (He didn't add the last part out loud.)

"Very well. Then I will challenge you again. A champion must accept all challenges!"

Kiritsugu said that he was honored and picked up Illya, placing her on his shoulders as they continued to search for walnut branches.

In one of the rooms in the Einzbern castle was Irisviel, who watched all that happened to her husband unfold. "What are you looking at, Irisviel?" The voice was from Saber, who entered the room with the afternoon snack: a cup of tea and cookies for Irisviel and a cup of tea and several meat dishes for Saber.

"Oh, I'm just looking at my family. Tell me Saber, what do you think of them?" Saber looked down, deep in thought for a small moment, before she gave her answer:

"While I have no particular opinion about Illyasviel, I think that Kiritsugu and I are alike in many ways." As Saber said this, she walked to the window, seeing Kiritsugu pointing out another branch. "Although I didn't guess that his cold persona was the same kind of facade as mine."

"He's a kind man at heart, Saber. Please, protect him and his dreams in this war." As Irisviel gave a melancholic smile to Saber, she twirled her spoon in the tea, worried about the upcoming Grail war.

Saber, seeing the melancholic smile, immediately understood the situation. "Yes, I will, Irisviel. But tell me: Is it truly necessary to let yourself die for the sake of this war?"

Irisviel, turning sadder every moment, explained how she was following the same ideal as Kiritsugu, and was ready to give up her life to accomplish that.

"Then I will accept your sacrifice, and make sure it will not be in vain. I will make sure that we will win the Grail war, so that you will be the last one who has to die for true peace!"

Irisviel was relieved to hear this, and she asked if Saber could do one thing. "What do you want me to do?" Saber replied.

"Could you please eat up your meal?" Irisviel pointed to the not so steamy anymore meat, "It's getting cold."

"My meat! NO!"

**[1****st**** of February, 22:47|2 days before Point Zero]**

Finally, the moment for Tokiomi to summon his own servant has arrived. And Assassin was kind of a failure, so he had to make sure that this summoning will be perfect. None other than Gilgamesh is allowed to be summoned. Taking his catalyst, the fossil of the first shed snakeskin in history, to the basement, he perfectly performed the summoning… but failed. What a surprise.

Yet Tokiomi was not unhappy. While he didn't summon his desired hero, he did summon something powerful: An angel, or at least, something divine, if we take into account that said servant has beautiful white wings on his back. His clothes made his origin clear: a white tunic decorated with red and gold hems, fastened on the shoulder by an equal-colored gem and at the waist by a brown leather belt. He also has brown sandals on his feet, a few golden rings and bronze cuffs on his limbs, and as if they could make it even more obvious, a golden laurel crown on his head. Clearly, this servant is of Greek origin, and the bow in his hand probably makes him an Archer class servant.

However, this servant has one glaring flaw: Tokiomi only needed to glance at him to know his identity. After all, in all of known myth, only one hero fulfills all three qualifications of being an archer, having Greek origin and having wings, and that is the demigod Eros.

"I can clearly see that you're Archer. Are you perhaps known as Eros, the Greek demigod of love?"

Archer denied, claiming that while he was Greek, he wasn't this Eros guy, much to his master's surprise. "Anyways, nice to meet you Mister…"

"The name is Tohsaka. Tohsaka Tokiomi. I'm your master in this Grail war. First we have to bring you up to date about the events that happened recently." He walked toward the door leading out of the basement, asking Archer to follow him, which Archer did. "Let's start with the alliance between us and Assassin's master." Pointing at the other male in the room he explained that that person was their ally, Kotomine Kirei.

"But where's Assassin then? Or did he already start lurking in the shadows?" Tokiomi placed his hand on the nearby wall, which caused said wall to slide downwards, revealing a secret room that contained the other servant. And Archer was stuck with shock when he saw how Assassin was not very… Assassiny.

As the wall slid back up, Tokiomi explained some more facts, before he asked his Servant one of the most important questions: "What is your wish?"

Archer pondered on this question for quite some time, before he came with his answer: "You know how the era of the Greek gods has ended, right?" Tokiomi nodded. "That means that lady Palutena is gone too… but if I win the Grail, then I can make sure that lady Palutena and I will once again guide the people on the path of light!" Tokiomi was pleased with the noble answer of his servant, and guided him a little longer through his mansion before Archer decided to scout the city.

Archer left, and Tokiomi decided to sit down in his favorite chair, trying to make head or tails out of his new-found knowledge of Greek myth.

…

"What in the root is a Palutena?"

**[2****nd**** of February, 21:12 |17 hours before Point Zero]**

What is considered powerful? What is considered rich? What is considered successful?

If you would ask these questions to any student at the Clock Tower, chances are they would answer Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. Born in a long-standing noble family with heaps of talent, many expected him to become the start of a new breakthrough in magic.

For now, he was busy with a magic ritual known as the Holy Grail war, and to be precise, it started terrible. When he was still doing his work as a teacher, reviewing the essays of his students, he noticed the ridiculousness of one of them, a not-so-great magus going by the name of Waver Velvet. It was based on utter rubbish, some "increase potential of a magus by means other than selective breeding". While normally people would get an F for such a failure, Kayneth upped it a step by openly ridiculing the script in front of the entire class.

And that might have been a bad idea.

Because he ridiculed Waver, said servant took revenge by stealing his catalyst for Alexander the Great. While he can understand that people get angry because they failed something big time (although Kayneth never failed more than "slightly less than perfect"), yet for Waver to go as far as stealing? From him?! That was unforgivable! He would make sure that Waver will be openly humiliated in this Grail war!

Taking his back-up plan, a spear point that supposedly belonged to the legendary Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the finest spear-man of Fianna, he prepared the necessary rituals for the summoning. Everything was done as greatly as one would expect from a genius… but he somehow still failed.

Because in the middle of the summoning circle was not someone who resembled a 3rd century Irish warrior. Instead, this servant felt more… oriental, and of a later age.

It was a man who could be described in one word: Red. Every single piece of clothing on his body was red. Leg armor? Red. Waist Armor? Red. Jacket that didn't cover his abs at all? Red. Gloves? Red. Headband? Red. Pants?

…

Okay, those are white, but they have red flame patterns on them, so that counts as red too. In his hands were two tridents, with, you guessed it, red shafts. (The spear points were just steel-colored. Some people were disturbed with the lack of red.) His hair is surprisingly brown. It is also short and spiky, except for the longer ponytail at the back of his head.

All in all, this was not Diarmuid, but more likely to be some sort of samurai.

"Who are you?" Kayneth's question was the only thing he could've asked. After all, this was clearly not Diarmuid.

Lancer smirked at this question, before loudly proclaiming who he was: "I am summoned as Lancer in this Holy Grail war! In my life, I have claimed many titles, known as the Tiger of Kai, the Matchless Spear, the Crimson Demon of War and a Hero who may appear once in a hundred years! And now, I am here to serve under you, Oyakata-sama!"

"Lancer…" Kayneth said with slight anger. The anger was mainly self-anger directed at others, because he was angry that even his back-up plan failed.

"OYAKATA-SAMA!" Lancer shouted happier and harder than ever.

"Lancer." Kayneth, having relieved most of his anger, started to rethink his opinion about Lancer. Sure, it's not Diarmuid, but he still looks like a powerful warrior, and if the titles he spoke of are true, than he should still have one of the more powerful servants in the Grail war. Besides, his stats were supr-

"OYAKATA-SAAAMAAAA!" A very happy Lancer wanted to show his affection for his new master, so he did that in the same way he did with his old master: Punching each other in the face.

It's just so sad that Kayneth was not made to receive punches, so that single punch made him fly across the room… and through the window of the flat.

Kayneth's wife, Sola-Ui, had remained silent for the duration of the summoning, but decided that now was the right time to speak her first words: "Lancer, you do know that we are 100 meters above the ground, right?"

Lancer took this new information, processed it, and realized (to his horror) that his master was currently falling down… fast.

"OYAKATA-SAMA!" Jumped out of the broken window, he simply ran down the building, faster and faster, until he caught up with his master. Grabbing him while being only a few meters above the ground, he stabbed one of his spears into the side of the building and spun around it, creating a huge wheel of fire in the process.

After a couple of spins, he pulled his spear out of the building and jumped forward with Kayneth still in his hands, who was still somewhat shocked by all of this… but when he finally stood with both legs on the ground he was also grinning. He was grinning because he just found out that his servant was quite amazing, and certain to become a valuable asset in the upcoming war.

"Well Lancer, I must say I am impressed by your qualities." Kayneth said with a confident smile on his face that quickly turned into a more deadpan one. "Just never punch me again."

Lancer bowed down deeply, with a happy look on his face. "Of course, Oyakata-sama!"

**[2****nd**** of February, 23:35|15 hours before Point Zero]**

The war for the Holy Grail is a war between magi. However, this man was not a magus, yet he was one of the participants. Magecraft is something this master despises with his entire being, but he returned to it to save another from following this path.

After a year of arduous training which crippled his left leg, blinded him in one eye and decreased his life span to a single month, he was finally ready to summon a servant for the upcoming war.

Because of his own incapability with magecraft, he had his father Zouken perform most of the preparations: Said father prepared the summoning circle, got a catalyst for his son, and was the one who infused the son with countless of worms that slowly devoured the son's body in exchange for the ability to control a servant with magic power.

Truly, the life of Kariya Matou was a short one, yet filled with much hardship.

As Kariya walked to his father inside of their house's basement, he noticed that all the preparations were done, and wanted to start the ritual. He was stopped by his father, who ordered one last thing: He had to add two extra lines to the ritual, to make sure he would get the right type of summoning.

He fully did the summoning as his father wanted, hoping to gain a so-called Berserker who was part of the members of the Round Table.

The servant that appeared after the completion of the summoning was… not exactly what he expected, and he wasn't even sure if he succeeded in summoning what his father wanted or if he failed.

This servant in front of him was fully covered in black, but he wasn't covered in armor like you would expect from a knight. Instead he wore a black cloak, with equally black pants, shoes and gloves. These clothes covered every single part of his body, and neither Kariya nor Zouken could see the servant's face under the cloak.

"Kariya, I doubt that this is a servant of the round table." Zouken spoke with slight concern before dropping that attitude and going with more snide remarks: "Oh well, I never expected anyone but you to fail at the summoning ritual."

Kariya had no rebuttal. Instead, it was his servant that gave one: "I doubt that it was the summoning ritual that failed. I would opt that you go and reexamine if the catalyst you used was not a fake."

Zouken was temporarily at a loss for words. First of all because the servant rebutted him, and second of all was that the servant they thought to be Berserker spoke, which should normally be impossible. After regaining himself, he returned the favor to the servant by claiming that Kariya still failed to summon the intended Berserker. After all, Berserkers don't talk.

"I am Berserker."

Silence. Several seconds passed. One was silent because he expected an answer, and the other two were silent because of shock.

"You liar!" Zouken shouted before composing himself. "Berserkers should not have their sanity remaining! What are you really?"

"Once again, I am Berserker." Snapping his fingers, two more creatures appeared besides him. These were two humanoid creatures, which resembled some sort of Golem.

They have a bronze-colored upper body with thin upper arms, while the lower arms were thick and silver-colored. Its waist and thin upper legs were also silver-colored, while the lower legs were thick, grey and cylinder-shaped, separated from the upper legs by a blue knee brace. Its head was rather small and black, covered by a grey helmet that was decorated with a blue diamond. In its hands was a giant, T-shaped claymore, and they looked ready to attack.

"Perhaps I have been summoned as a Berserker because I control these beings called Berserkers. I also tend to rage and go Berserk if... certain conditions have been met. Now can I discuss the plans for the upcoming Grail war with my master without you asking pointless questions?"

Zouken was silenced by this servant, and had nothing to say, although he did wonder when the Grail started to understand the humor of puns.

It was Kariya instead who asked the final question: "Servant, just who are you?"

The servant walked past his master and the old man, claiming that he was nothing more than a nobody. "Now let's discuss how we will win this war and have our wishes granted."

**[2****nd**** of February, 23:57|14 hours before Point Zero]**

It was midnight, and most of Fuyuki's citizens were asleep. Most of them, at least… but some were still awake, including a young magus who was making a magic circle. Being halfway done he stopped for a moment to think and take another look at one of the objects he now hated the most:

It was a small box he stole from his teacher, containing the "remains of the cape of the legendary Alexander the Great". Or at least it was supposed to contain them. A small alchemic analysis proved that this "artifact" wasn't even a hundred years old, let alone 2300!

In other words: His teacher had been swindled, and because he stole it, so was he. And because the command seals were already engraved on his body, he had no choice but to summon a servant without a catalyst.

"Ah, I hope I will at least get a decent servant…" The magus sighted, before finishing the rest of the circle. There was not much else he could have done, though. His teacher, a man of wealth, fame, power and experience, probably had a back-up plan in case something like this happened, and even a back-up of his back-up plan. This student, Waver, was from an average family, and he lacked the contacts and the money to have a back-up.

Starting the incantation lines, the circle he made from chickens blood started to glow brighter and brighter. When he finished the incantation, a single person stood in the circle, and that person was clearly not Alexander the Great.

He was a blank man… and that was all that could be said about his appearance, because most of it was covered by clothes. On top of his head was a tricorn head with an especially high crown, and covering his eyes was a white mask, which made Waver think in slight horror that he summoned the weakest of all classes, Assassin.

The clothing covering his body is a grey and dark-brown cloak which was tied with a blue ribbon, and a white boa was wrapped around his neck. While Waver couldn't perfectly see what was underneath the cloak, the small glimpses he did see hinted that his servant is wearing a black suit with black-white shoes.

As the servant calmly observed the situation, he explained that he was Rider, and asked if Waver was his master.

Waver confirmed this, and the servant gave a small nod of satisfaction. Walking to the water shore they were nearby, he observed the city while reviewing multiple strategies in his mind. "Hmm. I think that I have an idea or two I want to use." Returning to his master, he asked him to follow him. "There are a few things we have to prepare for this upcoming fight…"

**[3****rd**** of February, 02:19|12 hours before Point Zero]**

As most of Fuyuki was quiet… except for those very few spots where magi were summoning their servant, there was one spot where the slight noise of a motorboat could be heard (without any servant summonings nearby).

The motorboat contained two people, who were smuggling several combat tools into the country for personal use like guns, explosives, more guns, army knives, and even more guns. These two were known as Kiritsugu Emiya and his assistant Maiya Hisau.

The boat ended its journey in the Fuyuki docks, where it was pulled on shore by the two passengers and unloaded of its content. They quickly loaded the weapons into a pick-up car they prepared up front and planned to drive away, until Maiya noticed something strange:

"Kiristsugu, the shining building at 11 o'clock; there are no reports about a building like that existing in Fuyuki. Is there a possibility tha-"

"Most likely." Kiristugu interrupted, both knowing each other long enough that they could tell for sure that the thoughts they had were the same: That building is most likely the work of an enemy servant. "I'll stay here somewhat longer and scout that building. You drive this truck to the hotel and place cameras around the Tohsaka and the Matou. I will scout this building and place cameras around the Archibald. We meet back at the hotel at 5 a.m." Taking the orders, Maiya left with the truck.

Kiritsugu, equipped with a set of binoculars and a pistol that was hidden under his cloak, went to the strange building in a light jog. Upon closer inspection he found that it was a house the size of a giant villa, but he had no idea what kind of function it had. Worst of all was that it was build on a small island just outside of the shore, and to enter he had to pass a long, well-lighted driveway which provided no cover. Deeming it too dangerous to enter without his servant, he decided to just leave two cameras nearby, which should keep an eye on any suspicious movement nearby.

Now he just had to go to the nearby Melloi and place some cameras there. He had hoped he could figure out more, but so be it.

**[3****rd**** of February, 06:58|7 hours before Point Zero]**

After a long night, all the preparations Rider wanted to make had been set up, and they were back at their base, the house of the McKenzies. Waver, his master, was not so happy with some of the preparations.

"Rider! You just openly displayed three of your noble phantasms in front of the enemies! They're easily going to guess your true name now!"

Rider looked at his master, who was angrily flailing his arms around. "Sit." It was not an order, but the power Rider gave off made it feel like one. Waver sat down on his own bed, sighing.

"So what are we going to do now, Rider?" He asked with concern, "What was the point of these preparations?"

Rider sat down next to his master, and started explaining: "The reason I so openly displayed 3 of my noble phantasms is to confuse and distract our opponents. Tell me, what would the opponent think that our base of operations is?"

Waver thought for a moment, and eventually a smile crept upon his face. "Of course, they will think that we are in one of the buildings we placed!" The smile didn't last long, and Waver asked his second question: "But why do we need to show three of your Noble Phantasms? Wasn't one enough?"

"Not really. If we just showed the Opera house, then the others might suspect that it's a trap and would search for locations like these as our hideout. Now they either suspect that two of them are traps and the third is our real hideout, or they think that it was the work of multiple masters, which would suit us just fine." Sitting down on the bed next to Waver, Rider asked one very important question: "Why do you want the Grail?"

"Eh, where did that question come from? And why do you even want to know it?" a pouting Waver asked.

"Because I might be able to use your interpretation of the wish in the upcoming Grail War. I can also tell you things you need to know."

Waver hesitated for a moment, before he decided to spill the beans: "I… I want to be respected by the rest of Clock Tower. I want them to recognize my genius! That's what I want to use the Grail for!"

The servant, instead of respecting Waver's wish, chided him. "That's a pointless wish, master." Waver wanted to object, but he was quickly silenced by Rider. "If you win the Holy Grail war, you will have beaten 6 other magi who are probably all stronger than you, and these include the 3 founding families and your teacher. That should be enough of an accomplishment to be recognized by all of Clock tower."

Waver saw the point Rider made… which left him with no wish. "In that case… I have no wish…" He said; ready to enter a small depression.

Rider noticed the mood of his master, and tries to cheer him up: "Don't worry about it too much. Winning for the sake of winning is a good goal too. It was the same in the second half of my life."

This was the first time Waver heard of Rider's past. "Could you tell me a bit more about your life, Rider?"

Rider sighed, before he started to explain. "Some years after I was born, my father and mother were kidnapped by an evil organization, which left me and my brother as orphans. We were both adopted by separate foster parents, and I spend most of my youth studying tirelessly to get revenge. Eventually, I got married with a girl I liked, and we had a daughter together. I thought that I could give up on revenge and live a normal life, but they were killed by the organization too."

"That was when I donned this disguise, and started to oppose them full time. I searched for several ancient legacies that were also targeted by this organization. However, my plans were foiled multiple times by none other than my own brother, who didn't recognize me anymore."

"The last time I fought against this enemy was different: The legacies thus far discovered all let to the final gift of the old civilization. This was when my brother learned of our relationship, and we met our father again, who was now the leader of that organization. We managed to stop the organization, and my revenge was finally complete when my father was arrested and had to go to jail."

"Yet when all was done and over, my life felt empty. With nothing else to do, I set out for new adventures, making many discoveries in the field of archaeology. I remarried, got a few children, and eventually died of old age."

Waver was speechless for a moment, not sure what to say. So instead of saying something, he tried to think of a hero that would fit the description Rider gave… but he couldn't think of any servant with that life story and the ability to summon multiple buildings out of nowhere. Just who is this mysterious man?

Standing up from the bed, Rider walked to the window and opened it, which caused a dove to fly inside. "Master, there is something we have to do now. Could you help me?"

**[3****rd**** of February, 08:30|6 hours before Point Zero]**

When Kayneth woke up, he was thinking about how much of a nice day it was going to be. That all changed when he saw his servant standing next to the window.

That… thing…

It was big…

It was black…

It stood erect in the magnificent morning air…

And it was even bigger than his own…

"What the hell?!" Kayneth shouted as he pointed to the big black castle that stood erect outside of the window that was also bigger than his own castle back in London.

A castle that size that suddenly appeared out of thin air? To Kayneth, there was no other explanation then that it was a Noble Phantasm created by one of the other six servants! But which servant could it have been? What could have been his purpose? And what is the true identity of that servant?

"Oyakata-sama, I might know who the builder of that castle is." Kayneth looked with surprise and suspicion at his servant. Would he truly know, or was he trying to get on a higher standing with him? "The general who only believed in strength, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. I fear that he is one of our opponents in this war. But do not worry, Oyakata-sama! I swear on my soul that I will defeat all our enemies!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi… Kayneth did study several legends in preparation of the war, and his legend was also studied… His servant did have a point: The Sunomata Ichiya Castle, also known as the one-night castle, was one of the main pinnacles of power Hideyoshi Toyotomi displayed.

But even if they knew the name of the opponent, there was something else that bothered Kayneth: "What do you mean with 'I fear that he is one of our opponents in this war'? Are you not capable of defeating this enemy?"

Bowing down deeply, Lancer apologized for making his master worry while also reminding Kayneth that "I may be of equal strength as him on neutral ground, but neither I nor my lord would be as foolish as to fight him in his own castle."

Kayneth put his hand to his forehead, a sign that he was thinking deeply. "In that case, we have to make sure that we lure him out. We will proceed with our plan as usual. You will go through the city at night and lure out the other servants. Make sure you are ready."

"Of course, Oyakata-sama!"

**[3****rd**** of February, 09:47|5 hours before Point Zero]**

Berserker was walking inside the Matou mansion, randomly going from one place to the other until he arrived in the basement.

It was once again filled with thousands of crest worms, and in the middle of those was a young girl known as Sakura Matou being tortured, molested and raped by them.

Berserker just looked at what unfolded here, but he showed no visible emotion as he saw this happen (The fact that he kept his hood up didn't help).

"I see you found little Sakura, Berserker. What do you think of it?" Standing behind him was old man Zouken. Berserker couldn't help but notice some of the similarities between them, as they were both clearly not human.

"It depends on what your purpose is. What are you doing this for?"

"So quick to get your answers from others? Try to figure it out yourself."

"Those worms give off the same magical feeling as you. I would say that you're trying to fill her with your own essence, turning her into a clone of yourself." Berserkers guess, while close, was wrong.

"I am using her as a vessel indeed, but not for myself. Instead, she will become a second vessel for the Grail. If I cannot win with the Einzbern Grail, than I will make one of my own to have my wish granted. First I break her ego completely until there is nothing but an empty shell left, and then I fill her with the essence of the Grail, like one does with a homunculi." Zouken turned to the servant with a big sadistic grin on his face, "Now, what do you think about this, Berserker?" He asked, hoping to see the servant in despair. "Does this make you rage, or does it make you hate me?"

Berserker didn't rage. He didn't hate him. "To use a girl as a sacrificial puppet just so you can fulfill your wish? No, I don't feel any anger or rage. I would have done the same if I could, and I cannot shake off the feeling that I at least tried to do the same as you did."

Moments of silence passed, before Berserker spoke again: "I think that I fit someone with your personality more than my current master, and you have more prana stored inside you. Can I team up with you instead of him?"

"Oh? How perceptive. But I'm afraid that I'm going to stake everything on the next Grail war. You must do the best with what you currently have, which is… almost nothing." Zouken chuckled, and went out of the basemen-

"Stop." As Berserker said this, a large blue claymore appeared in his hand, resting only a few inches from Zouken's head. "I don't think I made myself clear. We will team up for the upcoming war, and I won't take no for an answer."

Zouken, not impressed in the slightest by Berserker's display of power, simply let out a small laugh, and turned to the servant. "You can kill me if you want. Go ahead! But know that I will kill your master before you kill me, and you will die from prana exhaustion."

"I still have a back-up plan in case that happens, so don't worry about that. Now let me repeat it for the last time: become my master." Berserker tone turned slightly angry, and even Zouken felt that Berserker wanted to cut him as soon as possible.

Zouken, instead of being terrified let out a small hum, and looked sideways to the girl surrounded by the worms. "I see now. You're planning to use that girl as your master. Too bad for you that I control the worms around her too, and with both her and Kariya dead, there isn't any free magus around for miles. But if you cease your violent actions now and act like a good dog I might be as generous as to give Kariya some extra prana output."

"Tsk." The still angry Berserker let his sword go, which then disappeared into nothingness, before he went out of the basement, leaving behind a laughing Zouken.

**[3****rd**** of February, 11:31|3 hours before Point Zero]**

"I have some news in from one of the enemy pairs, Tokiomi." The mediator of the war said through a communications gramophone to his allies, the masters of Archer and Assassin. "It seems that the castle, villa and the airship all belong to servant Rider. He also warned me that he might bring in several weapons that are more than a hundred feet tall, so he wanted me to hypnotize or possibly evacuate the entirety of Fuyuki in case he needs to summon it."

It was silent on the other side of the gramophone, as both masters were deep in thought, processing the new information.

"So we have a servant that can summon a castle, an airship, a villa and a gigantic weapon… and why can't I think of any servant that would fit that description?" Tokiomi, struggling with this information, asked his servant for advice.

"hmm… I can't find any servant that fits the description on divinipedia… but I would say that we keep him alive until the final." Tokiomi looked at his servant, asking why he thinks that. "Well, my ultimate noble phantasm would be the perfect counter for his gigantic weapon, but activating it seals all my other noble phantasms… and Dyntos didn't give it a high level of endurance, so it breaks quite quickly. Very quickly. Very, very, very quickly. It didn't even last a single mission!" The servant looks a bit saddened and angered as he remembered this event, but he quickly turned back into his usual chipper self. "By the way, I'm calling Pizza Hut right now. What do you guys want for lunch?"

The masters gave some funny looks at the servant, wondering why he brought up that subject, of all things…

*grumble*

Tokiomi's stomach however made clear that he was quite hungry, and so the masters and servant ordered some food before returning to the Grail.

"Archer, I want you to scout the city now, and check all three buildings." See what their purpose is, but try not to get seen and don't enter a fight with anyone, and come back before lunch, which is in… around 20 minutes. Can you do that?"

"Of course! I used to do such stuff in just five, let alone twenty!" Activating one of his 4 noble phantasms, he ran to the closest window and jumped out, flying away to the rest of the city.

Tokiomi closed the window, and returned to the Kotomines. "So, what do you think about your servant, Tokiomi?" Risei asked through the phone.

"He's powerful, has several good noble phantasms, and most of all, he's loyal. He might not be a Gilgamesh, but I think that I can still win the war with this servant." Taking a sip of his wine, he sat down next to Kirei, continuing to talk with him and his father about this war. After 20 minutes both Archer and the pizza arrived, and the masters closed the connection with Risei as they sat down for lunch.

The priest used one of church sacraments to improve the rank of the food by one (this process is known in layman's terms as praying), and all three happily started eating.

Tokiomi, Kirei, Archer… enjoy your meal!

**[3****rd**** of February, 12:03|2 hours before Point Zero]**

It was on Osaka airport that two people stepped out of a big passenger plane (and were actually of importance to the story. There were many others, but we only care about these two). They were known as Saber and Irisviel.

"So, this is where Kiritsugu was born?" Irisviel asked to no one in particular as she tightly held onto her hat that was trying to ride the strong winds. She turned to Saber, who was wearing a white tuxedo, and had her long black hair tied up in a ponytail. "And you Saber? How did you enjoy your journey through the sky?"

Saber didn't answer for a while, as she just stared at the surroundings. "It was quite dull. At least the food was decent."

"So heroes don't care about something as simple as flying?" Irisviel asked, slightly disappointed because of Sabers lack of joy.

"When I was still alive, the ability to fly was of an equal level of special ability as my noble phantasm, so I would have liked it very much. But as a servant, I receive knowledge of the modern world, and that includes flying. I could even fly a plane like this one."

"You can fly an aircraft?" Irisviel asked in surprise.

"All Sabers have some skill at riding, and I am no different. However, because I am not Rider, I cannot ride divine or fantastic beasts. But for anything other than that, I just need to put the saddle between my legs and take the reins, and I'm ready to go."

"Put the saddle between my legs and take the reins?" Irisviel looked with slight shock at Saber, before she burst out in a polite laughter.

"Did I say something funny?" Saber asked with a stoic expression, "I just meant to say that I can ride everything, be it big or small."

Irisviel polite laughter turned into less polite laughter, and Saber kept wondering what was so funny.

**[3****rd**** of February, 14:22|a few minutes before Point Zero]**

"Fill, fill, fill 'er up, fill…"

In one of the houses of Fuyuki, a man named Uryu Ryuunosuke was busy with something really cool! He was trying to summon a real demon. A real one! Drawing the demonic circle with his toes while using his hands for holding the tome with the evil incantation, he was doing his best at summoning that totally awesome being.

"Repeat… four times… Or was it five?" It was a slight pity that he wasn't really doing a good job at it. The circle was crude and imperfect, and he couldn't even remember the lines. "Um, break it up when it's full… Right?" Looking once more at the script, he noticed that his earlier incantation was slightly wrong. He had to admit that his ancestors were pretty awesome, considering they made this demon-summoning. But couldn't they make the incantation something along the lines of "And now I summon you from hell" and the summoning circle a simple pentagram? That would've been a lot easier!

Repeating 'fill' 5 times, counting each fill with his fingers so he has exactly enough fill, he happily shouts that he completed another part of the incantation. He wanted to continue, but he heard that people were talking about him on the television.

"…at all three murder scenes, a mysterious pentagram was found, drawn in the victim's blood." Uryu had to admit that he might have gone a bit too far. Maybe he should have stuck to the rule of third time's the charm and stopped with this ritual the last time, but come on, killing people and using their blood for summoning a demon? Even if the ritual doesn't work, it's still a damn cool death! He could keep doing this for 6 times without getting bored! Maybe he could even do it seven times, although Uryu wasn't too sure about that.

"The symbol's purpose remains unclear. Today, we've invited a professor who specializes in criminal psycholog-" Turning off the TV, he moved to the only survivor of the family he just killed for "greater demonic purposes". It was a young boy, with no noticeable features. We don't know his name, and we don't need to, because he's most likely going to die as the sacrifice of whatever type of demon Uryu will summon.

"Hey kiddo, do you believe in demons?" Fear was evident all over the boy, who wanted to scream, to cry in frustration and most of all, to escape and live. But he couldn't, because… well… bindings and stuff. "All the papers and magazines call me a demon, but what if demons really exist? Wouldn't that be rude to them? You've gotta be clear about those things." Suddenly kneeling before the bounded kid, he introduced himself as none other than Uryu Ryuunosuke, a super cool demon! In case demons do exist, Uryu noted, he would change his name to Uryu Ryuunosuke, a super cool killer… just in case.

The kid started crying, scared of his fate, as Uryu showed the old tome he found in his own home, and explained that it could summon demons! And because demons are, well, demons, he asked the kid if he wanted to be the necessary sacrifice in case a demon shows up.

The kid screamed and tried his best to escape (it didn't work, of course). Uryu laughed, thinking of how awesome it would be to be killed by a demon, considering that almost nobody gets to find out.

Uryu suddenly let out a small yelp, as he noticed some weird symbols being burned/painted/created (he honestly didn't know how) on his right hand, and the circle started to glow and crackle with electricity.

Uryu knew that this was going to be cool!

A small breeze came out of the circle, and mist blocked most of Uryu's sight. When his sight returned, he didn't know if he failed or succeeded.

For the most part, his servant looked like a little girl. It was the type of girl he really loves to kill: around 10 years old, with short blond hair, except for the single long tail at her side. On top of her hair was pink mob cap with a red ribbon attached to it. The body was covered by a red vest and skirt, with a yellow neckerchief and pink shirt underneath. All in all, this part made her look like a normal girl with a terrible fashion sense. (This is only Uryu's opinion. The author does not share this opinion, not in the least because the author is scared of going Kyuu!)

What really made her special were her blood red eyes, her fangs, and most of all her wings… if one can call those that. They look more like iron rods with crystals attached to them. Uryu had the hopeful feeling that he had summoned a real vampire!... although it was a young and female one. He personally hoped for something in the Dracula or Alucard direction, but this would do too.

"Hello! Are you the one who summoned me?" This… thing asked to Uryu in a tone that was still childish, yet didn't feel like it would belong to a 10-year old.

"Ah, that would be me." Uryu walked to her, ignoring the muffled screams of the kid behind him, and looked at the wings. "Are those real?"

"Yep! Please don't touch them, they're quite ticklish." Retracting his hand, Uryu asked with whom he had the pleasure of meeting. "I'm F- oh wait, we were not allowed to tell our true names. I have been summoned here as Caster, so you can call me that. And who are you?"

"Uhm… I'm Uryu Ryuunosuke, currently unemployed. My hobbies are killing and stabbing people, especially young children."

"Well, that settles the contract. Now we have to gain the Holy Grail to get our wishes fulfilled! "

Uryu didn't quite know what she was talking about, this… gray… something. So he did what he would normally do around monsters: offering the kid as a sacrifice.

She walked over to the kid, and inspected him. She pricked the kid in the arm, caused a small droplet of blood to flow down. Dipping her finger in the blood, she tasted the quality, and found it surprisingly good. "Uryu, this is really tasty blood! Want some?"

Uryu was too much of a gentleman to say no to a lady (and because he wanted to taste it himself), and did the same as Caster. He found the taste quite bloody, and not so tasty. He kind of expected this difference between humans and vampires.

"Uryu, I bet you can make some really great wine from this blood!" Uryu looked surprised, never considering this approach. He asked, surprised, if they really made wine from blood. "Of course we do! Me and sis aren't like those lower class vampires who eat their humans raw. We cook them! Or at least, our chief maid did. I… never learned how to cook."

"And I don't know how to cook human either… now what?" Both servant and master were thinking, ignoring the screams of the food. It was Uryu who came with a great idea: "Hey, maybe they have books in the nearby library that show how to create blood wine!"

Caster looked at Uryu with a happy face, claiming that if they went to a library like Voile Library, they were sure to find one!

The two turned to the thus far ignored food, wondering if they should put it in the fridge. "Well, we did start to eat from it, so it's only logical that we place it in the fridge. We don't want him to spoil, right?" Uryu agreed with the idea. Stuffing the kid in the fridge, the duo went to the door. Caster noticed the sunlight, and grabbed one of the umbrellas for the use of a make-shift parasol.

And this is the start of the magical adventures of Uryu and Caster-chan! Please wait warmly for the next episode: "Uryu and Caster-chan at the library!"

**[3****rd**** of February, 14:24|Point Zero]**

_And now, all servants have been summoned, and the Holy Grail has dawned upon this world. Masters! Servants! Fight and overcome each other, and win the Holy Grail. You are ordered to slay, to kill, and to destroy, all to gain your wish! Step out, battle and win!_

* * *

**Hello everyone, this is the author here. I'm sure you have a few questions about this story, and I'm here to answer a few that will probably be asked one way or another:**

**First of all, how much does this story follow the stations?  
Well… as you can see, not so much. The Archer vs. Assassin did not fit in, not in the least because of the latter's BSOD, and other elements were changed too. However, the very, very few elements that do fit in and make sense at that time (Like the upcoming docks battle) will happen, albeit somewhat different. Kiri will be more aware of possible Assassins, some servants may not show up at the scene, the outcome might be different… As you can see, what makes sense happens, and what doesn't make sense doesn't.**

**Where do we have to look for the identity of each servant?  
Saber: Anime  
Lancer: Anime/Games, both are equally awesome  
Archer: Games  
Rider: Games  
Caster: Games  
Assassin: Comics  
Berserker: Games**

**Who is your favorite servant of these newly summoned?  
I am not really supposed to say this, but I guess you can say I like Lancer's hot-blooded personality.**

**Are we still allowed to guess who each servant is?  
Well, you guys do seem to enjoy it, so why not? Just leave some space for the other question I'm going to ask.**

**What is this last question you're talking about?  
Well, I mainly want to ask you if you could also say if you have special duels you want to see between some of the servants/masters, Like Tokiomi vs Kayneth or Saber vs Assassin. Please leave any suggestions you have in the review box, and I wish you a good day.**

**Thank you very much,**

**Flagarach.**


	2. The First battle

**[3****rd**** of February, 14:47]**

Fuyuki is one the seventeen designated cities of Japan, proof of being a big metropolis, housing both poor and rich. One of the places where the rich fully overshadow the poor is the New Shinto Shopping Mall, home to several stores that sell many types of luxury resources I am not going to name because the author doesn't want to get sued.

Inside the mall were Saber and Irisviel, performing the feminine ritual known as shopping. They strolled through several stores, buying things like dresses for Irisviel, more suits for Saber (who doesn't mind wearing the male clothing after Irisviel bought her a week-long supply of fresh Fuyuki Beef), and many other pointless things that cost a lot of money. Old man Acht's bank account was starting to look quite meager and slim…

"Saber, come here! Take a look at this!" Irisviel pointed to yet another dress. This one was slightly more risqué than those Irisviel bought for herself, not in the least because this red dress lower half was see-through from the front which expose one's panties, had an open back which even showed a bit of the ass and also showed a lot of cleavage. At least the golden pauldrons and the puffed up shoulders looked nice. "Isn't this the perfect dress for you?"

Saber looked slightly less happy when she saw the dress. "Irisviel, there is absolutely no way that I am ever going to wear that outfit." Not even someone as socially awkward as Saber would dare to wear such a… thing. She was ready to walk away with the wind, to forget that she ever saw that horrible dress, and go home to enjoy her meat. But Irisviel wouldn't let her walk off that easily.

"Well, I guess that Saber doesn't want her delicious, sensational, tongue-melting Fuyuki beef, made from massaged cows who only drink beer and eat the finest crops, prepared by one of the best chefs Fuyuki has seen in history." Irisviel walked away from the store, faking a feeling of pity through body motions and language, "I guess that I will have to eat that delicious steak with Kiri and Maiya. Too bad for you, Saber."

Saber's face was red, and saliva dropped out of her mouth. "No fair! You promised me those steaks!"

"Only if you would wear whatever I wanted you to wear. And thus far you're not wearing what I want you to wear." Irisviel added teasingly.

Saber started to sweat. "B-But do I really have to wear that? I can see Leone wear that, but not me!"

"Ste~ak." Saber was almost fully corrupted by the steak. She only needed a final nudge before she would give in, and Irisviel stood ready to do just that: Lifting a small box from her handbag, she read the content: garlic butter that was made with sea salt, buffalo milk, and many delicious hard-to-get herbs.

That was the last straw. It was just enough to make Saber give in.

Twenty minutes later and Saber walked out of the shop, face red from embarrassment and slightly cold from the lack of cover her new dress provides.

"Saber, I'm going into this shop here, could you stand watch here to warn me about any enemies?"

"Y-Yes, milady…" Saber stuttered out. She really didn't like the stares everyone gave her. An assassin would never be used to that, and someone like her fits more in the shadows. She wanted to either sink into the ground or merge with the shadows right now, but she was sadly enough incapable of doing so.

"Mommy, look! That lady forgot to wear her pants!" Saber looked to her side, where she saw a little boy pointing at her. His mother quickly covered his eyes and turned him around. "She didn't forget her pants, sweetie. She is just… not good in her head." The mother-son pair quickly walked away from this crazy lady, who was covering her head in shame.

That steak better be worth it.

**[3****rd**** of February, 15:52]**

"Hello! Do you have some books on making wine?" The librarian heard this young girl's voice, and looked up from her own book, a smile on her face with which she usually greets kids.

"Hello there, you do kno…" The librarian's smile disappeared as she looked at the… abnormal girl. With wings. That moved. Like real wings. And to make it worse, she had fangs and red eyes. "Why are you dressed as a vampire?" she asked with a flat voice, one which tried and failed to rationalize the being in front of her. She hoped that the girl would say something, anything that would be logical.

"Because I am one!" However, where Caster comes from, logic and common sense only hold you back. The librarian looks with disbelief at the servant, not moving an inch.

"Yo, could you please tell us where we can find the books? We don't know how long our food will stay good, so we're in a bit of a hurry." A second person entered, who looked somewhat more normal than this girl, although the amount of bloodlust he radiated wasn't a good sign either.

The librarian still didn't move, only muttering something like "im-im-im-im."

"Well, sounds like she is broken." Caster noted. "By the way, you spoke last to her, so that means that you broke her."

"I didn't!" Ryuunosuke, slightly angered, replied, swinging his arms wildly. "You started talking with her, so you could have broken her too!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

And the master and servant continued their childish bickering for a while, until Caster became so angry that she clenched her fist, which turned the librarian into a bloody red puddle of (hopefully) blood, which got smaller and smaller until it ceased to exist.

"Okay, maybe I broke her first, but that last one wasn't me." Uryu's angry face quickly turned into one of happiness and amazement, complementing Caster on how "Cool!" her kill was. "It was quick, it was fast and best of all: it didn't leave a trace, so it was eco-friendly too! I doubt there are many cooler ways to kill people!"

But Caster wasn't happy. Instead, she looked like she was about to burst into tears. "But… but sis said that I should never break people! I broke my promise with her. I… I… Waaaah!" Caster burst into tears, causing the few people who didn't run away from the disappearing librarian to "shhh!" Caster down.

"Ehm, Caster?" Uryu said as he pulled an arm over Caster's frail-looking shoulder. He really wasn't sure what to say. Dealing with crying girls was not a forte of a guy who never had a girlfriend in his entire life. Scratching himself behind his head, he thought about the best way to calm Caster down. "Look, I get why you're upset. But try to think about it: is it really so bad what you did?" Caster stopped crying for a bit, and looked at Uryu with teary eyes. "Humans increase in numbers with fifty thousand every day! Is it really so bad if you kill a few?" Caster nodded, but Uryu paid it no heed for the moment. "Heck, you're a vampire! Aren't you supposed to eat humans?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's true… but I still broke my promise to my sister!" Caster shouted, which caused some more Shhhes from the people around them. "Everything around me eventually gets destroyed because of me! If only I was normal, had a power like my sister or that dog-maid, one that didn't cause destruction! If I could just-"

"Caster!" Uryu shouted, tightly gripping the shoulders of the shaking vampire. "Don't say things like that! Your power isn't ugly, it's super cool! It's beautiful!"

Caster stopped shaking, and looked Uryu straight in his eyes with her own watery ones. "Do… do you really mean that, Uryu?"

Uryu hugged the girl in front of her. "Of course! It was really awesome! Never think that you're cursed with any of your powers. Don't think that others like God hate you; God doesn't only love creation; he also loves destruction like yours! If he didn't, then why would there be people like us?"

"But she always said that Gods are too busy feeding the corpses of other gods to hell ravens." Uryu was confused by Casters response, letting out a flat what. Caster also didn't quite understand what was meant by that, and clearly explained it to her master.

"Hmm, not a God like that, Caster. The person I talk about is the one who created the world w-"

"So you mean Yukari?" Caster interrupted again. Uryu didn't understand it anymore and just went with this Yukari as the creator of the world.

"She, I guess, loves everyone in it, be it you, your sister, or me! So don't worry about breaking stuff, because she can easily replace it." Caster looked happy once again, her wings happily flapping in rhythm. "Now shall we look for some cooking books?" Caster nodded, and the two happily searched for any good books.

The search however was… abysmal. There wasn't a single bloody book that teaches how to make wine from human blood. There also weren't any non-bloody books about cooking humans either.

"This library is terrible!" Caster complained. "It's not even a millionth of Voile's size!"

Uryu agreed completely: "Well, it didn't even have a few good books about killing, so it wasn't a great one, but to think that it lacks good cooking books…" the two of them walk out of the library, still angered by the lack of quality there.

"Say Uryu, is there a reason not to destroy a library without good books." Caster wondered aloud, a mischievous smile appearing on her lips.

"Go right ahead, Caster. And could you please call me by my first name? Partners shouldn't do otherwise."

A happy Caster clenched her fist, causing the library to crumble in itself, until the place was one big piece of rubble. "Okay… but only if you will call me Flan, Ryu!"

The two happily walked away… until Uryu realized that they could have tried to use common recipes and simply switch the pork or cow with human meat.

"And where do we find these recipes?" Caster joyously asked.

"Well… in the library…" Both stood there for a second that felt like minutes, wondering about their own stupidity. "We… didn't think this one through."

"No. No we didn't."

**[3****rd**** of February, 17:03****]**

Waver and Rider found out that it was pretty hard to hide a servant in a small house where other people besides themselves live. After his fake grandmother entered Waver's room and found that there was a strangely-dressed man inside, she grabbed the closest stick-like object and began to smack Rider with it, screaming about this strange burglar that entered the house.

After Rider got a few beatings from the old woman, Waver appeared and quickly hypnotized her, causing her to fall down unconsciousness. Waver and Rider then took the Grandma and the also hypnotized Grandpa to the living room, where they put them on the chairs of the dining table.

"So what are we going to do, Rider?" Waver asked to his servant. They thought for several moments, thinking what was best for the war. There were three options: First was to hypnotize them to think that Rider was part of the family. The main advantage is that it lets them lay low, but it also involves innocent people into the Grail War.

Second was to simply steal the house. It would leave the two Grandparents out of the war, and they could stay low and avoid attention. This idea was the first to be tossed, because Waver, while not as traditional as other magi and less bent on following those rules their magus society had set up, wouldn't stoop low enough to steal from elderly people.

The last option was to leave the house, and use one of Rider's noble phantasms as a hideout. While it doesn't involve the old couple, and gives them a much more fortified base, it would also make them the most likely center of attraction in this war, something both master and servant wanted to avoid.

It was a hard choice between the leftover choices, with the ups and downs of both choices equaling each other. Just when the two concluded that something was the best solution, another argument brought it back to equal levels. Many minutes were spent, until Rider decided to cut the Gordian knot: Taking a coin out of the Grandfather's wallet, he decided to flip a coin: Heads, and they would stay here with the brainwashed couple. Tails, and they would take refuge in their castle and leave this house alone. " My Luck is quite decent, master, so I think fate will guide us on the right path."

"What, did you become a heroic spirit by luck alone?" Waver sarcastically asked. It was for Waver completely illogical to decide things in a life-or-death war by pure luck. Why would anyone be stupid enough to do that?

"Just trust me one this one." He flipped the coin, and it softly fell on the ground. The upside was… heads! So that means that they would stay, and introduce Rider as a "friend" and "Teacher" of Waver.

Both master and servant made their preparations: Waver mentally imprinted a quasi-believable story about a professor he studied under in London, who also left for Japan. But because his chamber in the Hyatt Hotel got overbooked by some weird lunatic who hired half the building, he had nowhere to sleep. With no other chances, he decided to visit one of the students he got along with the most and coincidentally also lived in Fuyuki, and asked if there was room for him to sleep. Waver, of course, had no objections to the intrusion, but still had to ask his grandparents for permission.

In the meantime, Rider used one of his noble phantasms: It was one that allowed him to disguise himself as any other person he ever met. Throwing off his cloak, another person appeared, one who looked a lot more like a professor.

Rider and Waver took place at the living table too, and after everything was set up, Waver broke the hypnosis of the elders, who woke up from their artificial sleep. Still dazed and disoriented, they looked around in confusion before the imprinted memories set in: "It is nice to meet you, mister… Sycamore." Grandfather Glen spoke, elderly kindness weaved through his words. "I heard about your situation from our Grandson Waver."

" And what a terrible thing it was!" The Grandmother, Martha, said with slight worry and anger. "Who would need to rent half an apartment building? And then the hotel staff just puts you out of your room! How dare they?!"

"I am sure that there was a reason for, Miss McKenzie." Rider said, calming the angry Martha down. "But I am still left without a place to sleep. Thankfully, Waver offered me to stay at his place for a while, for which I can't thank him enough. His actions, set in motion by his good-natured heart, are also slightly rash, because he made these decisions without any assistance from your side. Therefore, I first wanted to talk to you in person, so that I would be sure to have permission from everyone in your family."

Glen let out a hearty laugh, and explained that if Waver thought that it would be okay, neither he nor Martha would prevent Rider from staying. "But tell me, how is Waver doing at university? He never talks about it, so we're a bit worried."

"Gramps!" Waver angrily shouted. He wasn't prepared for any sort of questions about his studies. All the information Waver gave to his fake Grandparents was that he studied in London, nothing more. Besides ,what should he tell his parents? That he studies magic? Ridiculous!

"Well, he's somewhat above average in the courses I teach, and around average in most of the other classes. However, he's doing badly in Professor El-Melloi's lessons." Rider started to explain some more things about Waver and El-Melloi's relationship that he picked up during the occasional conversations he had with his master: How they never got along due to differences in their world view, and how it all worsened after Waver got falsely accused for stealing some of El-Melloi's possessions… He described their relationship in full detail, even though it only consisted out of half-truths and lies. "Yet I still recommend that you come to terms with El-Melloi. Doing that is the start of making your life… well, mellow."

Rider expected someone to create some positive feedback on his nice example of true British wordplay. Instead, it went completely silent. Only the crickets outside were chirping…

"Also, he lacks any sense of good humor." Waver said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. His servant asked Waver to kindly say nothing more, and eventually even asked for Waver to make the grandparents forget this joke.

"We… allow him to say." Glen spoke, but now with slight scorn on his face. "But only if he doesn't make any jokes when he's here." Martha wholly agreed with this. The four of them finished the last formalities, and Rider went upstairs to his guestroom, still slightly angered by the elders' comments. The family of three was left, who discussed some things with Waver about his quarrel with El-Melloi. After receiving a bit of scolding, Waver also left the living room, slightly angered.

And this left the two elders alone, of which the female was… also slightly angered? "Glen Samuel McKenzie!" Glen looked at his wife, and was immediately inflicted with the terror status. "How dare you be so harsh on Waver! Didn't you see how uncomfortable he felt?!"

"But sweetheart," Glen tried to rebut, "Weren't you a bit harsh on him too?" It was to no avail, as Martha scolded him even harder. "H-Honey?" Not only did she scold him, she also picked up a nearby broom, this time not meant for sweeping the floor, but for sweeping someone else. So Glen did what all men do in hopeless situations with women: Running away as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Glen, come back here!" Martha gave pursuit to her husband, on this rather uncommon day for the McKenzies. Glen could only hope that the rest would be better…

**[3****rd**** of February, 17:08]**

"So… we got the butter, the olive oil, 40 shallots, 5 big carrots, 7 bottles of Tohsaka's Traditional Wine, all seasonings… except for that garlic you don't eat… did we miss something, Caster?" After finding a good cooking book in one of the houses down the road (they entered by housebreaking), Caster and Uryu went to the supermarket to get the necessary supplies.

"Well, I got the humans… did you just forget the mushrooms?" Caster asked in an innocent tone. The reason they had to gather their food was because their original food had run away. Today's lesson: Make sure your food is dead before you store it away, or you might lose it.

Thanking Caster for her reminder, Uryu walked over to the vegetables, and picked up a few nice-looking boxes of mushrooms. "And Caster, did you make sure that the humans you picked are still virgin? I don't want you complaining if one accidentally isn't."

Caster pointed with her free arm to the six humans she had slung over her shoulder, claiming that they were all fresh virgi-

"OBJECTION!" One of the soon to be food yelled, pointing his finger at Uryu. "I am not a virgin! Where's your evidence to back up that statement?" This spiky-haired porcupine-man hybrid was awaiting an answer that would not exist, and he smiled cockily.

"I have a vampire's instinct. I simply smell your innocence, Mister Hedgehog!"

"T-That is nothing more than simple conjecture!" The man sweated a lot, seemingly afraid of Caster's judgment, before an expression of shock filled his entire face: "You're a vampire?!"

Caster looks slightly confused at the question. "I have red eyes, fangs, vampire wings, can carry six humans with no problems at all, I proclaimed to eat you… why would you think I'm a normal human?"

"Don't worry about him, he's just slow." One of the other foods, a young magician wearing a blue top hat and cloak, gave her knowledge of the porcupine to Caster, who thanked her in return. "Also, should I show you a magic trick?" Caster wanted to see it, and freed the stage magician. The magician pulled off her top hat and stuck her hand inside. "Now, what will come out?" She took out her hand, and behold! It held Caster's panties!

*Pichuun~* And behold again! Now Caster held a giant red sword in her hand, which pierced the magician's heart! "Don't steal my panties ever, EVER again." Her words' fury was hidden behind tranquility, and the smile on her face was one which hides clear anger.

"Y'know, you just killed my daughter… so why don't I care?" The hedgehog asked to the master-servant pair.

"It's because of a noble phantasm that creates insanity. You've gone so mad that you don't care anymore." The hybrid gave a nodding ah, and Uryu complimented Caster on the decently cool way of killing, hoping to see something more awesome next time. "Ryu, shall we go to the cashier? I believe we have everything we need." Uryu nodded, and the two of them walked over to the cashier, who scanned each item they wanted to buy, both the non-meat and the meat, leaving a price of… of…

"Hey Flan, correct me if I'm wrong, but what does the cash register say about the food price."

Caster looks at the cash register. "It's 1 million, fifty thousand and six hundred thirty-two yen… so if we calculate that into dollars… then…" Casters eyes widened, before she started to scream: "It costs over 9000!" Clutching her hand she destroyed the scoute- I mean, cash register, and the other hand destroyed the cash registe- I mean, scouter of a vegetable and his cow leather who were making the same joke about a carrot in another universe.

"Well, you're buying almost 230 kilograms of meat that has heavy taxes because people are not allowed to eat it." The shopkeeper said in his usual flat, business-as-usual tone. "Of course it's going to cost a lot."

Uryu is not rich. His usual work consists of transporting heavy luggage, and it is normally barely enough to live from. So he had to do what he usually doesn't let his code of honor do: he robbed the wallets of the food, and gave them to the cashier as payment.

"That… will be enough. Thanks for doing business with us." Uryu and Caster treated him one last smile, before they left the shop, ready to start cooking.

**[3****rd**** of February, 19:00]**

The City of Fuyuki is separated into two parts by the Mion River. On the residential side of the river was the aptly named Riverside Park. Inside of the park was none other than Lancer, ready to battle.

"Lancer, it is time to execute our plans. Do it. Now." Kayneth's voice ringed in Lancer's head, giving the signal for the start of the first battle of the Grail War.

Lancer recalled some things that lead to his current situation for a brief moment, remembering how they were forced to change the location for the bait, because the docks were stationed too close to that villa noble phantasm whatever. Searching for a location that was far away from both castle and villa, they found Riverside Park.

Lancer looked into the night sky, wondering what kind of amazing battles he would meet in this war. Slapping himself on the cheeks to mentally prepare himself, he let out a huge amount of prana, one that should be big enough to be noticed through all of Fuyuki.

This should be certain to attract at least one master-servant pair, and if he was lucky then maybe even multiple groups could join, creating one big fight in which he could honorably duel many strong servants!

Excited at this thought, he jumped on one of the nearby trees, trying to see the servants that would join him for this "party", as his old rival would call it.

Inhaling a lot of air, Lancer shouted the hardest (which was very, VERY hard) he could: "Now come! Let use fight here, and bring glory to our masters!"

**[3****rd**** of February, 19:01]**

Saber and Irisviel were finally done with their shopping spree, and they're now enjoying the beauty of the city. They spent some time in Shinto, watching the view over the city from the top of the skyscraper that was built recently; after that they went to Fuyuki Bridge, enjoying both the people driving and walking across as also the calm water underneath that would soon be stirred into a storm of war; then they went to Ryuudou Temple, praying to the gods for luck in the upcoming fights. Both enjoyed the sightseeing tour, although Saber was still slightly pissed that Irisviel forced he to wear that risqué outfit… the fact that some of the monks thought she was a spirit of lust and tried to exorcise her didn't improve her mood either.

Eventually it became night, and the moon started to rise in the sky. Irisviel noticed it too, making her want to visit one last place before they would call it quits and return to their Castle on the outskirts of the city: The beaches of Fuyuki. Normally a place where kids gather in the summer for swimming and crab fishing, the darkness of the night combined with the slightly cold winter temperature left the beach fully deserted. Both Irisviel and Saber found that that was a real shame, because the sea, something neither of them saw during their lives, was truly beautiful. The calm breeze that gently swayed the waves, the soft sound of water crashing down upon itself, the moon reflecting on the sea like a mirror… it was one of the wonders of nature humans tend to forget in this day and age.

Irisviel took off her shoes and socks, and happily pranced through the water, letting the cool feeling refresh the feet that walked for so long this day. She offered Saber to join her in the water, but was rejected. Saber claimed that the only reason she would ever go into bodies of water was for hunting fish, and not for enjoyment.

"I feel kind of bad for you." Saber looked at her proxy master, raising an eyebrow in response. Irisviel's face shifted from happy to melancholic. "You're a girl, just like I am, yet your life was filled with so much hardship and so little joy…"

"You're right, Irisviel." Saber confirmed the words that were spoke to her, not denying the truth of her life. "There are hundreds, maybe thousands of other lives that would've given me a happy, a joyful life… but none of them would have let me achieve what I did in my own. My suffering will never compare to the sufferings other people would have had to endure had I decided to choose a simple happy life." Saber took off the golden boots of her dress and headed into the ocean too, walking next to Irisviel. "It's all right to suffer for your ideals, as long as you make those ideals come true. Even death can be justified if it will make your ideals come true."

The two women looked at each other, both of them understanding each other a little better now. They gave each other genuine smiles, proof of their newfound understanding and happiness. They ar-

"Saber, did you feel that too? There's an enemy servant right ahead." Both recognized this new threat, and were pondering for a few seconds, deciding how to solve this problem.

"Let's contact Kiristugu first, and decide things together." Using the Master-Servant bond, Saber contacted Kiritsugu telephatically: _"Kiritsugu, we've detected an enemy servant. He's around 350 meters away from us and still lurking in the shadows. We can decide to fight him, but we can also flee or just observe him. Personally, I recommend the last option."_

"_I understand. Stay there and observe him, but don't fight before I give the signal."_ Saber nodded, agreeing to Kiritsugu's words, even though Kiritsugu couldn't see that. Turning back to Iri, Saber explained what they had to do, and the two of them left the beach, moving onward to the true start of the war…

**[3****rd**** of February, 19:01]**

In the Matou manor's living room, Berserker was overlooking several maps and blueprints of Fuyuki and its major buildings. He classified some of them as "useful", which could be possible hideouts in further stages of the Grail War; "slightly useful", back-ups in case he has to go somewhere in an emergency or after all of his "useful" possibilities were unavailable; "unusable", those buildings that wouldn't serve any purpose to Berserker, and "unregistered", those he still has to classify.

When he was a little over two-thirds done, he saw his master Kariya entering the room.

"Berserker," Kariya spoke with pain in his heart… and lungs… and liver… let's just say that he spoke with pain everywhere. "Did you feel that outburst of prana?"

"Yes I did. It was a huge waste of magic energy." Berserker replied in his usual stoic demeanor. "Now let me guess: You want me to follow you in my berserk state, which will tax you enough that it will make you go berserk in pain. When we're both incapable of clear thinking, you want to ravage over the battlefield, fully focusing on a single servant, even though we don't even know who this Tokiomi's servant is." Looking up from the maps, he turned to his master, anger and scorn clearly visible on his face and in his tone. "Tell me, how high would you rate your chances if you summoned someone who is berserk all of the time and lets you do all the planning?"

Kariya wanted to answer, but was shot down almost immediately by his servant. "Zero percent. You are absolutely terrible at devising strategies." Standing up from his couch, he walked over to his master, who spat out a little bit of blood due to a ruptured blood vessel. "Your redeeming factor is your willpower and drive. While I admit that they are commendable, they're more suited for a soldier than a general."

"You know that I don't have long, Berserker. I don't even know if I will live until tomorrow. We have to win this war as quickly as possible!"

"Being quick is not the same as being reckless." Berserker rebutted. He snapped his fingers, and 5 figures appeared out of black portals. Two of them were Berserkers like those he summoned just after being summoned. The other three are sleek, humanoid-shaped beings with thin arms and legs. Their entire body was gray, except for their mouth, which looked like an undone zipper; and it has a symbol on top of what is probably supposed to be its head, shaped in some sort of combination of a heart and a cross. "We'll send these out to scout the enemy and figure out their weaknesses. We will use those weaknesses to get a swift kill, so that you won't be in pain and eventually die on me."

"You better show some results, Berserker, or we will win this war my way." Angered by the coldness of his servant, Kariya limped away, searching for the girl he was sacrificing his life for. He really found Berserker a pain in the ass. Couldn't he have summoned a normal servant, one that would be as loyal as a dog?

Looking at his command seals, he wondered if he should use one on Berserker to make him more loyal and submissive, but he couldn't shake this feeling that his servant was gay for whoever his leader is, was or will be.

And Kariya is completely straight, so making himself the top dog is out of the question.

Being the lower dog is obviously also out of the question.

**[3****rd**** of February, 19:01]**

In the night sky, an Archer was happily singing some song while searching for any form of servant activity: "Again today I will go soaring through the sky!" He checked the eastern part of the city, and found nothing special. "My enemies I'll dish them up in a stir-fry!" Well nothing special except for that hamburger shop. "Gracious master back at home, backstabbed with a knife!" He has to bring a few back for his master, and teach him how great it tastes! That was why he was currently holding a lunchbox filled with hamburgers. He couldn't wait to eat them together. "I'll win the Grail and bring my goddess back to life!"

"_You seem very chipper, Archer. Did something good happen?" _Archer heard his master talking to him in his head via the master-servant mental link.

Of course! Super Smash Brothers got released!… a while ago… man, I thought I mastered keeping people waiting, but he's clearly worse!" Tokiomi had absolutely no clue as to what his servant meant with this… Super Smash… Thingy. "Oh, and I found a great food shop! This day couldn't get any better!"

"_That's good to hear." _Archer noticed that Tokiomi's voice became slightly angrier, even though it was still quite tranquil. "_And Archer, what did you mean with that third sentence?"_

"Well… I couldn't think of anything good that rhymed with life, and this was the first I thou-" Archer was stopped mid-sentence, as he felt a huge amount of prana released in the air. "Master, did you feel that too?"

"_No, I didn't feel anything. What happened?" _Archer explained the energy burst he felt, and the general direction it came from. Tokiomi had to think about the strategy he and Archer were going to deploy, but... _"Archer. Trace this energy back to its source. Observe the servant that caused this outburst. Get this opponent to unleash his Noble Phantasm, preferably by having him fight a servant that is not you."_

"Of course, Master!" As Archer's wings shone purple, he bursts off to the enemy, ready to enter the first battle of the Fourth Holy Grail War.

**[3****rd**** of February, 19:02]**

The wave of prana was also felt at the McKenzies, where a young magus and his servant also prepared for the upcoming battle. Their plan was to observe, and only in emergencies would they come out to fight. Waver fully agreed with this plan Rider proposed, because it was the one that made the most sense to him. After all, what kind of idiot hero would barge straight into enemy territory while loudly declaring who they are? Lucky for Waver, his servant had a good set of brains, and he felt that Rider was superior to him (something he doesn't admit easily) in covert operations.

But hey, he's a Heroic Spirit. Of course he's going to be great in battle!

The two of them went to a nearby empty alleyway, a few blocks away from their hideout. Waver looked around ,wondering what Rider had in store this time. He was thinking of several possibilities: perhaps he would use another Noble Phantasm, like some sort of "Cloak of invisibility" or maybe even a telescope, considering he looked more like a 19th or 20th century explorer than a pre-medieval warrior. Maybe he would simply use familiars found in this alleyway to spy upon the enemy. Maybe he wou-

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of propellers turning in the air, and looked upwards to see the airship that hovered above the city only 30 feet above him. With a snap of Rider's fingers, a rope ladder was rolled downwards, nearly touching the ground in front of Waver. "Welcome to my airship, master." Waver took a good look at this airship: It was some sort of zeppelin, with a large white gasbag keeping a smaller orange cabin afloat. To both sides of the airship was a large propeller, which seemed to function as the motor of this ship.

After Waver climbed aboard the ship, he noticed the inside of the cabin, which was rather large: If he had to estimate, then he would say that it could easily function as a house and professional magecraft workshop combined. Waver noted how this Noble Phantasm looked rather luxurious, especially for something that would be considered antique in the current era. This was at least double as extravagant as his room back in London. Sure, he couldn't afford a lot since he was rather poor, but this truly astonished him. Seeing this, he wondered how special the Castle and the Opera House are from the inside.

"Please take a seat, because this ship is going to liftoff." Rider ordered his master once more, and said master followed his instructions to the letter. Waver sat down in one of the chairs around the lounge table, which was in the same room as the control panel of the ship. Rider pressed several buttons, and with a small hop, the Zeppelin flew away, searching for the first battle of the war.

**[3****rd**** of February, 19:03]**

Caster was very busy with her newest project: A blood fermentation machine! With this device, she could make wine out of blood! She labeled the blood in different types: The first bottle was emptier than the rest due to blood loss from the food at the supermarket, and she labeled it [Laevateinn]. The next was labelled [Starbow Break]. The third wa-

"Flan, dinner's ready!" Her wings perked up as Uryu said that, and she stopped her activities completely. "Ryu, I'm coming!"

They went to the dinner table of the house they currently occupied, which was covered with a few delicious meat dishes. Caster licked her lips, and thanked for the food (would the church sacrament of praying still be effective for a vampire?).

"Well, today we test 'And Then There Were None' against 'Cranberry trap'." Uryu explained. "Both are prepared in bourguignon style, so no differences there. I personally hope the former wins, because that was a way cooler kill, right Flan?"

"I don't know. My favorite spellcard i-" Caster's words were interrupted by a force of prana she felt, prana that urged her to go out and kick some other servant's ass.

"Is something wrong, Flan? You suddenly stopped." Uryu wondered, concern visible on his face.

Caster looked back at Uryu. Maybe later she would fight the other servants, and only later would she introduce him to the war she has been summoned for. "No, it's nothing Ryu." For now, she would just eat.

**[3****rd**** of February, 19:47]**

The first challenger has arrived at Riverside Park. Dropping down from the heavens, Archer softly landed on the asphalt.

Opposing him was a slightly angered Lancer, who did not like it if his opponents were late for a duel. "You're late, Archer-dono!" Lancer pulled his spears from behind his back and lightly twirled them in his hands. After a few rotations, he tightly gripped the spears, entering one of his most used battle formations.

"Oh yeah? Heroes always arrive late on the scene!" Archer readied his bow, an arrow of blue energy forming in his hands. The arrow grew slightly larger and shifted to a green arrow, which was Archer's sign to let it go.

Lancer dashed towards Archer, trying to evade the arrow with minimal movement necessary. Lancer's instinct however told him to roll to the right, and for good reason: the arrow that Archer fired homed in on Lancer, and would have pierced his head if not for his quick evasive maneuvers.

Lancer quickly stood up, and saw Archer firing more shots while trying to keep the distance between the two of them as big as possible. He dashed once again to the servant of the bow, but now outright destroying the arrows that were fired at him with big sweeps from his twin tridents. Archer continued to move backwards, firing more arrows in different sizes: sometimes, he fired one big arrow. Other times he fired a few smaller ones. Sometimes he fired a weaker one that was even more homed at Lancer. They all had the same result: Lancer obliterated each and every arrow, and he was closing the gap. What made it worse for Archer was that he found himself literally having his back to the wall.

"Uh-oh." Archer gulped, now facing a lance that was aimed at his throat. Grabbing the bow in the middle, he split it up into two separate short swords, using one of them to stop the lance from killing him and the other to counterattack.

Lancer used his second lance to parry the sword and directly altered the course of his weapon to become an attack aimed at the head. Archer tilted his head to the side, barely dodging the lance that pierced through the wall behind him.

But Lancer didn't stop. More attacks aimed at vital organs like the brain, heart, lungs and the spleen; sometimes Lancer switched the fatal attacks with a strike aimed to disarm his opponent. A few other times he tried a swipe to turn Archer into half the servant he used to be; But each move was fatal if left unguarded.

Luckily for Archer, all swipes were evaded, albeit he just barely made it through. A few lunges managed to nick his skin, leaving a small trail of red blood droplets. His clothes were in disarray, gaps appearing in the luxurious tunic, ruining it forever (or at least until Tokiomi performs some healing magic on his servant).

Archer had no choice but to stay on the defensive, until he finally found a small opening in Lancers stance. Slashing at the tiny gap Lancer left in his stance, he hoped to draw his enemy's blood; and blood was drawn… but not Lancer's.

Lancer kicked his enemy in the gut, causing Archer to fly through the wall behind him and into another one, inflicting some scratches and a few shallow cuts on the servant of the bow. "What's wrong Archer-dono? Don't tell me that that is all you got?" Lancer concentrated, info he gathered about his opponent streaming into his mind. He found out that his opponent was beneath him in raw strength, endurance and speed, but outdid him in magic power and good luck. The biggest problem was Archer's unknown noble phantasm, obviously some sort of magic bow or magic arrow that might give Lancer problems. His own noble phantasm, while not weak in the slightest, was only B-rank, meaning that if Archer's bow exceeded A-rank levels of power, he might be in trouble.

Lancer, not hearing any response from Archer, moved once again to his enemy, hoping to close the distance before Archer could fire his phantasm. He closed the distance fast… 20 feet… 10 feet… 5 fe-

Archer didn't move towards Lancer, but soared high into the air, his wings shining purple. Hovering 100 feet in the air, he took his bow and fired a volley of arrows at Lancer who just cut them apart. This lasted few minutes, with no breakthroughs on either side. Archer's number of arrows was equal to Lancer's stamina: infinitely large.

"Archer-dono, come down here and fight like a man!" Lancer spoke with slight anger. He knew the opposing classes in the Grail War, and the only ones that truly interested him were Saber and Berserker, because they would be the most likely ones to face him in an honorable duel. The other classes, however… Rider sounded more like a cheap hit-and-run fighter, not capable of fighting for longer than a minute before escaping; Archer was the same, fighting at an incredibly large distance to prevent him from coming into close combat; Caster and Assassin were fully out of the question for a fair fight. And while this enemy exceeded his expectations of the Archer class, it stayed an opponent who needs to keep a distance between them.

Lancer thought of his possibilities to continue the fight. On one hand, he could stop for today, preventing him from being the first servant that has to show his Noble Phantasms, and thus, being the first whose identity and weakness is revealed (Not that he particularly minds that, but his new master is somewhat more sly and scheming, and wouldn't allow it). The other possibility is that he uses his Noble Phantasm. It would allow him to easily jump to that height, but it would probably reveal who he is.

Lancer didn't know what to do, so he decided to consult his Lord while also slicing some more arrows into pieces. _Oyakata-sama, what should I do?_

Lancer has explained his thoughts, and a loud voice echoed through the park's air in response: "Lancer, use your noble phantasm to kill Archer!" The two servants noticed the voice, and both stopped fighting for a small moment. Archer decided that it was a pretty good moment to consult his own master, while Lancer stood on the ground, smiling because of his Oyakata-sama's words. Twirling his lances, he ordered Archer to stop holding back and release his Noble Phantasm, because he would be going all out now!

"I'm sorry, but my master wants me to stop." Lancer's mood took a one-eighty, and he was greatly disappointed in his opponent. "Don't look at me like that!"

Lancer sighed, disappointed in the Archer, but understanding of the situation as well. "Archer-dono!" Lancer shouted to the fellow warrior, "Let us meet again someday, so we can fight once more at full power!" Archer accepted the promise, and flew off to the south…

"Ah… I wonder who I'll fight next t-" Lancer stopped mid-sentence as he saw none other than Archer returning to the battlefield. "Archer? What are you doing here?"

Archer claimed that he wanted to seal their promise: Archer took something out of a box he was carrying, and threw some sort of round object at Lancer, who in return stuck one of his spears in the ground and caught the object. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was "A hamburger?"

"It's slightly moist, and very delicious! Try it, and remember our promise as we eat!" Lancer inspected the burger, and after unfolding the wrapping paper, took a bite out of the burger.

"It's… it's great!" It was a delicious piece of food, and he felt his body slightly rejuvenating from the skirmish he had just a moment ago. Lancer turned to Archer ,a happy smile on his face. "Next time I'll treat you to something, Archer, so look forward to our next battle!"

Archer returned the smile with his own grin, and happily accepted the offer. "I've fought the strongest human of my own time, but you're even better, Lancer! Until then!" Archer waved goodbye, and flew away to the western sky.

Lancer still stood there, enjoying his burger, hoping that all servants would be as battle-hungry as the two of them. "This war is going to be fantastic! Master, I swear upon my very being that I will win this war for you!"

**[3****rd**** of February, 20:07]**

Far above the battle were Rider and Waver in their Airship, calmly observing the flow of war using a large telescope. "Now tell me, Master: What did you see down there?" Rider asked to his master for the purpose of testing his observation ability.

"Well… Two servants were fighting. One wields twin tridents, and is fully dressed in a red flaming pattern. He's most likely of the Lancer class. The other looked like some sort of Angel, and wore some Greek sort clothing. The bow in his hand means that he's most likely the Archer of this war."

Rider agreed that Waver was completely correct about this part of his observations. "And how about their performance?"

"It went really fast, so I couldn't see it all that well… but wasn't Lancer thrashing Archer for the entire battle? The only chances Archer had were his long-distance shots, but those didn't even faze Lancer…" Waver went quiet for a while, and his face was buried in worry. "Rider, do we have any chance at beating this Lancer?"

"If we fight him fair and square? No, we'll probably be shredded into pieces if we do that." Waver's face went white, but he also got angry at himself for summoning a "weak" servant. "My stats are pathetic compared to his, only my luck being better than his. If his noble phantasm is by any chance effective against mine, then I will lose for sure. However, why should we fight him fairly? " Waver looked up, surprised at his servant's lack of honor. "I suggest we team up with another pragmatic master and fight Lancer together. My rides combined with their skills should be enough to stop Lancer in this war." Rider turned to Waver ,and calmed him even more before asking him about servant Archer.

"Well, he wield a bow, can fly, and looks like a Greek servant… could he be Eros?"

"No, I've thought of that option too." Rider rebuked Waver's idea, claiming that if he was Eros, Rider would've gotten information from the Grail about Archer's Noble Phantasm and background. "But he is most likely Greek. I think we're going in the right direction with that idea." Rider took another look at the television that was showing the world beneath by telescope, and started to mumble something about him still being there.

"What are you talking about, Rider?" Rider took waver, and pointed to one of the trees in the park.

"Inside that tree sits someone, waiting. I don't know who he is, but I think that it's another servant."

"Is that Assassin?" Waver wondered. Rider denied it, claiming that if that servant was Assassin he wouldn't have seen him from this far away. No, this servant was hiding and observing the enemy, just like he did. Both master and servant thought that the servant hiding there might be a good candidate for an alliance, since it was probably a pragmatic hero who was most likely not honor-bound and willing to play dirty. Just as Rider liked.

They discussed a few more things, like possible masters for the servants or estimating the type of Noble Phantasms Lancer and Archer would have, before another object appeared on screen. It was another man, sneaking around the edges of the park, and he appears to be armed with guns.

"So, it seems that another one has entered the warzone." Waver was of the same opinion as Rider on this subject, and a thought crossed Waver's mind:

"Rider, isn't he perfect to make an alliance against Lancer with? He's pragmatic, and he fights from the shadows like a killer or an Assassin, making them weak opponents for the final round! Shouldn't we go out there and ally ourselves with them, Rider?"

Rider did agree with his Master, but thought that it was for the best if they wait and observe somewhat longer, so they can get more info on their enemies. He turned back to the monitor, and noticed that those who kept quiet during the first fight were starting to move out. "Well then, Master, let's see how the second round of this Grail War is going to be…"

**[3****rd**** of February, 20:09]**

These hamburgers taste absolutely divine!

Lancer could not say anything else about his seal of friendship. Even when he was still serving his old master back when he was alive, there was no food that tasted as rich, as full, as awesome as this! In all his life, Lancer knew only one man who was good enough to be called a true rival, but Archer is hard on his way to become the second one!

His pleasure disappeared when he felt some form of danger coming from 7 o'clock. Using the hand that was still holding a lance instead of a hamburger(which was the right one) he turned around and caught the weapon that was trying to end his life. It turned out to be a black katana, wielded by a girl in her teens.

Using the strength found in his arm and right-upper torso he threw the enemy servant to the other side of the park. Lancer grinned. He just finished fighting one opponent, and now he already found a new one! This war is going to be great! Yet Lancer's grin turned into horror when he noticed that he had dropped his burger! How could he drop this token of rivalry!

Lancer started to sweat, scared about the thought of Archer when he would find out he betrayed their honor. _"Think, Yukimura, think! What would Archer say in such a situation?" _Lancer pictured Archer in his head: His round and young-looking face, his spiky brown hair, those sparkling blue eyes, that innocent grin… _"Archer, what should I do now?"_

He heard them. Lancer could hear Archer speaking to him: "Floor hamburgers give you health!" Of course! Lancer understood those meaningful yet cryptic words Archer told him: Even if our bond is dirtied by the dust of the ground, it's still weaving the fate of them two together! He has to eat it!

He quickly collected all the hamburger pieces that fell on the ground, and stuffed them in his mouth, just in time before Saber closed in on him and tried to slash him into pieces.

Blocking the slashes with his spear, he quickly chewed the last of his food before he swallowed it, letting him give his full attention to the fight. He took a good look at his opponent. This female did wield a sword, but her way of acting all sneaky made her more of an Assassin like his friend Sasuke was.

"I see that you have decided to join this battle too, servant-dono! I would say that you're an Assassin, but that class would never wear such bright revealing dresses! Now come! Fight honorably, without any of the tricks you just used Saber-dono." Lancer stood there, valiant as a tiger, his aura shining brighter than the sun.

Saber, however, was the opposite: Calm like a still lake, her emotions frozen like Cocytus… they were like a bright sunny day and a clouded night sky. Two heroes that should not coexist, that should never fight each other… now standing on opposite sides of each other, ready to fight each other to the death.

"Eliminate." Without saying another word, Saber rushed at her enemy with the urge to kill those that oppose her. She quickly slashed at her opponent, who caught the katana with his trident. Saber didn't rest, this time trying to render Lancer legless. In return, Lancer used his right spear to parry, while the other trident was used to counterattack. Saber tilted her body to the right, narrowly evading the spear while counterattacking at the same time.

The two servants equaled each other in battle for a while. Lancer had the higher strength and endurance, allowing him to overpower the female opponent; Saber countered these advantages with her speed and luck, letting her dodge the attacks she couldn't block.

In the end, the deciding factor between the two servants was not their power. It was their weaponry. Saber wields a katana. It is a sword that is used by making quick slashing attacks at the torso, head and arms, with the occasional stab at the neck or heart. It relies on the user's speed and skill, two things that are well developed in Saber, allowing her to be called a master in sword fighting. Her opponent fights using tridents. It's normally used as a two-handed spear, quickly stabbing the enemy in fatal places from a range that a swordsman cannot reach. Lancer is different. He dual wields tridents, which trades in power for attack speed. It is a reckless, often called amateurish style, that should not function normally. But Lancer can use it. He has the power to block a two-handed slashing attack from Saber using only one of his weapons. And doing so shows one of the more fearsome abilities of the weapon: It can lock the enemy's weapons inside his own. If Saber gets caught in a deadlock, she has no ways of attacking left, forcing her to disengage, while Lancer has a free lance to stab Saber with, giving him the initiative. This was an opponent of the same level as his original rival when he was not serious, and he was definitely stronger than that. Saber needs at least 5 more swords before she stands a chance at beating him.

Slowly but surely, the brawl shifted in Lancer's favor: more and more relentless attacks came from Lancer's side, while Saber had to go on the defensive unable to counter the two tridents. She still performed well, evading all damage by dodging even the trickiest of stabs. Lancer kept overpowering her, but she didn't take any damage for minutes.

And that was her own goal: Survive without taking too much damage until Kiritsugu shot down Lancer's master.

And Kiristsugu was currently quite busy with fulfilling his end of the bargain: He and his assistant had targeted the park from two different directions: Maiya would stay on the other side of the river, checking the eastern end for enemy masters using her sniper rifle's scope. Kiritsugu would stay closer, hiding in one of the nearby houses, searching the west side of the park. In total, their locations could see a total of eighty-five percent of the park combined, and there was another hideout at a distance of 200 meters away from Kiritsugu that allowed him to see the last fifteen percent. They should be able to find the enemy master in 15 minutes, 20 tops.

The enemy master was most likely hidden behind some magical field that made him undetectable by both eyesight and magecraft. But they tend to underestimate the latest technologies: Infrared, Night Vision Devices, heck, he even had an X-ray device in case everything else failed. Quickly setting up his rifle, he watched the entire park, starting in the vicinity of the ongoing melee fight, followed by the nearby spots from where one has a good view of the battle and the surrounding park. Some were checked by him, while those he couldn't see were viewed by his assistant Maiya. But they still didn't find Lancer's master. Until their enemy gave them a small breakthrough in this aspect.

Back at the fight between servants there was Lancer who managed to deal the first blow with a rib-crushing kick to the abdomen. Kiritsugu slightly winced as he could imagine the pain of that attack. Saber flew many yards through the air, in which she recovered herself before gracefully landing on her feet, eighteen meters away from Lancer.

"Lancer, I order you to finish this fight. Use your Noble Phantasm to dispose of Saber." Booming from the sky, loud enough that even Kiritsugu could hear it, was the voice of Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi. Because Kiritsugu's Geiger Teller didn't detect any abnormalities meant that there were no small radioactive remains of a used command spell. This most likely meant that his enemies get along well, or at least the servant holds his master in high regard.

"Of course, Oyakata-sama!" And Kiritsugu was proven correct. Why else would Lancer call El-Melloi a "Noble House Lord"? Lancer spun his Noble Phantasms, which started to pour flames from the entire length of the shaft and the tip, normally just a pointy grey piece of metal, was covered in blazing fire. "Saber-dono," He stated pompously, "Now I will be going all-out against you. So I want you to do the same, Saber-dono!"

Many thoughts went through Saber's head. Her first thoughts were about the Noble Phantasm Lancer used. His Spears had flames surrounding him… and that was it. And his master confirmed that Lancer's master was the second-most dangerous in this war, just behind Kirei Kotomine. Would such a foe really have a Servant with only a C- or maybe even D-rank Noble Phantasm? Saber found it doubtful, and guessed that Lancer still had a second trick up his sleeve. Maybe it was some aspect of his currently displayed Noble Phantasm, like flames that won't stop burning until the target is killed. Or maybe he had a second or maybe even a third unused Phantasm, although that was unlikely. Lancer was in Saber's eyes an idiot. A strong one, but still an idiotic, honest and naïve servant who wouldn't tell a lie, but just wanted a good battle. He claimed that he would go all out, so his only Noble Phantasm is the one he is using now.

Her second thought was about who he was, which was not easy to decipher. After all, fire was a rather generic element, and combined with Lancer's oriental looks left a lot of possibilities to choose from.

The third thought was implemented by her master: _"Saber, switch back to your normal outfit." _Saber understood that Kiritsugu was going to fake a Noble Phantasm… again. By making her switch clothes, she is going to make Lancer believe that her outfit is her special weapon, or at least keep up that ruse until Lancer's master has been riddled by Kiritsugu's bullets.

Now wielding her normal attire, Saber stood once more before Lancer, who was glad to see that Saber took the battle seriously. He charged up, before lunging at Saber with speeds never seen before. "Senryo Hanabi!" Lancer swept Saber away, who in turn flew through the air, burn marks appearing on her hands from the sheer heat. And Lancer did not stop. "Koen!" Lancer punched Saber in the face, dislocating her jaw and burning the left half of her pretty visage in such a form that Assassin would comment she would make a good female Two-Face.

Saber tried to recover, but all she could do was minimize her losses. "Rekka!" Hundreds of stabs, each stab only microseconds after the other, were launched at Saber. Some she dodged, some she parried, but with every passing second, more and more strikes left wounds on her body that were immediately burned shut by Lancer's spears, causing her even more pain. She had only one hope: Kiritsugu. Both he and Maiya were still busy finding Kaynet-

"I've found him." Kirtsugu heard these four words from Maiya, words that he equaled as godsend. "Atop the Fuyuki Bridge, Left arc, a few meters from the middle to your side. Distance is around 1 kilometer from here, and the winds over the river make it unfavorable to shoot him from here. How about you?"

"800, 850 meters. Difficult to hit from this angle, but we have no other choice. Saber won't last against Lancer. Let's both shoot him to increase our chances." Both took aim at their enemy. There were many factors to consider: Wind speed, altitude differences, all things he took into consideration as he prepa- "Ouhoraku!" He also had to deal with Lancer's extremely loud voice. He was sure that both Saber and Irisviel would have broken eardrums after this battle.

"_Time Alter – Double Stagnate"_ Kiritsugu started the self-hypnotizing. It was a spell, a self-suggestion, that lets him perform his magecraft: innate time control. He slowed down his own time, so that he lowered the shocks of his own body, making sure that the bullet would hit the mark. There was only one thing he didn't expect: It was his own servant. Laughing madly. _"Release Alter"_ Releasing the effect of his magecraft, he looked at his servant, but ordered Maiya to stay on standby.

Saber… wasn't in good shape. Her face was burned, almost unrecognizable. He clothes were downright destroyed, and under every hole was a stab wound and a burn mark. Her hair was scorched, and at several points cut off. She was missing her left pinky and ring finger, which lay down at the feet of Lancer, both of them burned to a crisp. Lancer, meanwhile, looked perfectly fine.

Both Lancer and Irisviel looked confused at Saber. "What is it, Saber-dono? Have you finally figured out that your current self cannot beat me?" Lancer looked disappointed, before he readied his spears, pointing them once again at Saber. "It's a real shame. I expected you to be of a higher level, someone like Masamune-dono or even Archer-dono." He looked at Saber, ready to deliver the final blow. "Enemy master-sama, I recommend that you use a command seal to heal your servant and power her up, or I will burn you out of this war."

"Heh… that isn't it, Sanada Nobushige Yukimura." Saber said as a mad grin appearing on her face.

"I congratulate you on figuring out my true name, Saber-dono. However, this won't stop you from losing!" Kiritsugu stood on standby. The moment Lancer rushed in to kill Saber he would use a command seal to teleport Saber to the castle, and order Maiya to kill Kayneth. It was a tactic that would most likely cost his wife her life, but if one life has to be sacrificed to safe the rest, it would be worth it.

Saber lifted her hand, apparently with great difficulty. "No, it's the opposite. You are already dead, and I'm the winner. Hahaha…" Everyone there thought that Saber had gone delusional, including her proxy master.

"Then I bid you farewell, Saber-dono. I'll send back to the throne." Lancer wanted to lunge at Saber, but Saber interrupted him once again.

"Look at your left arm, Lancer." Lancer did as Saber said, unable to think that this enemy could do even so much as scratch him. And Lancer was proven wrong when he found out she did.

She managed to draw his blood, and a small trickle of that red stuff flowed down to his hand. "A single scratch is not enough to win a battle, Saber-dono."

"No, it is." Saber's aura went from delusional to blood serious, like her insanity was all an act. Lancer didn't believe it, until he saw weird black sigils flowing from the location of his wound to the rest of the body. Acting on instinct alone, he immediately cut off his left arm, knowing that if he didn't, he would most likely die. "It's too late. It's already spread through your entire body by the time those symbols appear. I just had to buy some time to prevent you from cutting off your arm too early."

Lancer understood the problems he was in. "You, what did y-urgk!" Lancer clutched his chest, and fell down on the ground, biting the dust.

"Mission accomplished."

* * *

**Well, on to the obligatory question and answers:**

**What is Fuyuki Beef, and why is it so great?  
Let me answer that with a question: Do you know which real-life city Fuyuki is based on? No? Well, that city is Kobe, famous for the most luxurious meat in the entire world. Kobe beef is made from Wagyu cows, who are fed corn and beer. Yes, these cows get beer. And they get massages. And it tastes absolutely divine, I can tell you. I guess Saber probably fainted when she found out she was in meat heaven.**

**Why do you start with Fuyuki Beef instead of the tragic death of Lancer? And how the hell did he lose so quickly?  
I like meat, so meat goes first *high fives Saber*. For the second question, Lancers death is a combination of bad compatibility and luck, his only real weakness. What also didn't help was that he exposes a ton of skin and doesn't wear any armor, which might've saved him against Saber. He might be able to trash Saber; as long as she gets in one hit, she wins. And besides, being Lancer is suffering. This one is no exception.**

**What took you so long to update?  
Well… kids, never forget to back up your files, because if your computer crashes, you lose EVERYTHING!**

**Something else?  
First of all, it took me 2 days, 8 pounds and 1 book on good English wit and humor to figure out a joke so bad that it is downright horrible.  
Secondly , I did always wonder why women are totally fine wearing bikinis, but wouldn't be caught dead in skimpy dresses, even though the latter covers more. Anybody got the answer?**


	3. Omake 1: Miracle de Noël

**To make it all clear, this will be the start of a line of bonus servants, also known under you guys as omake servants. Chapters will interchange 1 normal chapter and one omake chapter. Omake chapters are around 2000-2500 words long in story, excluding the servant stat sheet for the servant. **

**This is the first omake of 7, the servant Rider omake. Have fun, and happy Christmas.**

* * *

Waver had done the summoning perfectly. When the smoke cleared, he saw that he did, in fact, summon a very famous man as his servant: He was old and portly; his hair, mustache and beard were already white from aging. A pair of spectacles made sure that he could see well and his red coat with white collar and cuffs kept him warm in even the coldest regions. His red pants were kept up by a black belt, and on top of his head was a red, floppy, pointy hat with a fluffy white ball attached to the top.

"Santa Claus?" Waver asked in shock and disbelief. He couldn't believe who he had summoned. Sure, it was fully possible. If people like King Arthur, or Hercules could be summoned, why not Santa Claus? It sounds perfectly logical. But stil-

"Ho ho ho!" Laughing heartily, he walked towards the young master. "I have been summoned by you, right?"

"Y-Y-Yes, I am your master." Waver held his arm in front of him, showing the command seals to Rider. "Now, are you Santa? As in, lives upon the North Pole and give everyone gifts at Christmas Santa?"

"Of course I am! Who else would I be?" Pulling a chair and a scroll out of nowhere, he asked for Waver to come to him and sit on his lap. Waver didn't want to, his pride not letting him… but for some reason, even a nineteen year old like him couldn't resist to sit on the lap of the real Santa. "Now tell me," Santa asked seriously to his master. "What is your name, kid?"

"W-Waver Velvet, Santa Claus." Waver fidgeted a bit, unable to stay restless on the lap of this joyous gift-bringer.

"Hmm, now let's see…" adjusting his glasses, Rider checked his scroll for his Master's name. "Varley… Varnham… ah, Velvet!" Having found Waver's name, he started to read what he had noted on his Nice or Naughty list: "Waver Velvet: A nice young man who has mostly been Nice for most of the year. However, he is a little arrogant, and shows little respect for teachers."

"Hey!" Waver was happy with being called Nice, but he didn't deserve to be called not respectful to teachers. Kayneth deserved his anger.

"And you also stole something from your teacher!" Rider shot an angry yet forgiving glare at Waver. "Now that's not very nice, Waver. Stealing is bad, you know."

Waver couldn't help but cower under Rider's words. "Yes, Santa. What I did was not very nice. But he ridiculed me in front of the entire class!"

"That is not nice too, I know. But responding to naughtiness with naughtiness will only result in a sinking spiral of worse and worse naughtiness." He stroked his chin before giving Waver a command: "Now, I want you to give back what you stole and to apologize for it."

"Yes Santa." Waver bowed his head low unable to respond. "I promise I will return it."

Santa's frown changed into a smile, and he patted Waver on the back. "That's a nice kid! Someone as nice as you deserves a present!" Rider put two of his fingers in his mouth and whistled, causing his sleigh and reindeers to appear. He ordered Waver to stand up and follow him to his ride.

He greeted his reindeers first, before pulling a big sack out of the back of his sleigh and started rummaging in it. "For the young aspiring magus Waver Velvet, I have this nice little gift for you!" He pulled his hand out of his sack, which was now gripping a moderately sized green giftbox, wrapped in red lint. He gave it to Waver, saying that he was allowed to open it.

Waver looked at it suspiciously, before deciding that he should trust Santa. Undoing the lint and tearing the wrapping paper off, he found that the gift was kept in a black aluminum box. Opening the lid of the box, he looked at the contents:

"A T-shirt?" Waver looked warily at his gift. Was that all he was worth? A plain black T-Shirt?

"Oh, not a normal one, I say! This one is special." Rider let out another laugh, before explaining what it was. "It is a very special T-shirt, containing 30 built-in magic circuits which resonate with the owner's own circuits; giving you finally access to the prana units you study." Waver immediately put it on and tried to use it, and to his big surprise it actually worked!

Waver was speechless. He didn't move for a whole minute, making even Rider worried that something happened. He turned down to look at Waver's face, to see what was wrong. The face was blank, but after two second was the first sign of life: Waver started to shed a tear, followed by another one. He looked at Rider, his tears somehow complementing the smile plastered on his face.

"How… how can I thank you for this, Rider? This gift is why I went to join this Holy Grail War! How can I ever repay you for this, Ride- no, Santa?"

"Ho ho ho! You don't need to. That's why I'm Santa!" After saying this, he suddenly changed from jolly to serious, and he started to visibly think hard, like something was troubling him. "Although… on second thought, could you help me delivering these presents? I don't have my elves with me now, so I could use a few extra hands. Want to help me, Waver?"

Wiping off the tears from his eyes, Waver showed his will to help Rider.

"Good!" Throwing his sack in the back of his sleigh, he asked Waver to sit down next to him. When both were seated Santa started the spell of his reindeer, the activation command for his Christmas miracles: "Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer, and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!" And so Rider and Waver flew off, ready to prevent a naughty war by making all participants happy enough that they don't want to fight anymore:

* * *

In the mansion of the Matou, a hurt man stood tall,  
His name was Kariya, forced by his grandfather to respond to the Grail's call.  
Forced to be hurt to save a child,  
Infected by worms that made him go wild.  
But no more! Santa will stop this evil right now!  
Zouken has done more naughtiness than he will allow!

When Kariya stood outside, alone in the cold,  
A gift dropped from the sky, and of this one he took hold.  
He didn't expect to see his name on the gift,  
And when he opened it, his mood suddenly went up in a lift:  
Inside was "Anti-bug spray: especially effective on the Matou".  
This made Kariya do something he should've done a long time ago!

One dead Zouken later, and Kariya's heart was filled with glee.  
He had done it, Sakura was finally free!  
Kariya didn't have long to live but he would spent his last moments in joy,  
Spending a happy time together with Sakura and her new Christmas toy.  
And for those thinking I forgot that Berserker who is very smart:  
Don't worry, next to a sack of coal he also got a brand new heart.

* * *

In the Tohsaka manor were two people whose life held no meaning.  
Santa wanted to change that, and decided to start intervening.  
Kirei suddenly felt the urge to go outside,  
and he ordered Assassin to follow him at his side.  
They saw a sleigh with flying reindeer in the shadow of the moon,  
And two things fell down from that sleigh, which would land in front of them soon.

Fearing that it might be a trap, Kirei drew his Black Keys,  
But when the things dropped, they were nothing more than presents it seems.  
Kirei was still suspicious, but Assassin picked them up.  
One was a gift for Kirei, and the other for Assassin, yup!  
Assassin opened his, and nagged Kirei to do so too.  
Kirei finally agreed with it, mainly because he had nothing else to do.

"'How to live a normal life after one of crime'?" Assassin happily shouted, "Just what I need!"  
"Kirei, I think that this book is very plot-convenient, don't you agree?"  
Kirei ignored his servant, checking his own gift: Mapo Tofu, a lifetime supply.  
He didn't know why he had gotten this, but he could at least try.  
Taking a bite of the food, he found his emotionless being filled with pleasure.  
This was it! This was what he sought, and what he will now forever treasure.

* * *

Santa did not like Uryu, for he was a very naughty guy,  
And the wrongs he committed with Caster almost made him cry.  
These people deserved coal, and lots of it, no doubt!  
He filled the sewers with coal, and then quickly went out.  
These two don't deserve a second verse, we will end it here!  
So get away, Uryu! For Christmas, disappear!

* * *

In the Manor of the Tohsaka were Archer and Tokiomi, looking outside.  
There were Kirei and Assassin with gifts he did not provide.  
Two more flew past the window, the recipients nearly not seen if he wasn't so observant:  
One of the gifts was for him, and the other is for his Servant.  
The two of them walked out too, checking the loot  
He was first angry that Archer's gift was bigger, but he quickly rendered that thought moot.

A box full of jewels, each magically laden with power!  
It was almost as girly as a bouquet of various type of flower!  
Each stone contained a powerful spell of multiple kinds of element,  
Tokiomi couldn't help but wonder who was so benevolent.  
Looking up in the sky, he saw Santa up in his sleigh.  
He thanked Santa, before going inside to enjoy a nice cup of Earl Grey.

But what did Archer get, that jolly lad?  
It was three different electronics: A TV, a Wii U and an Ipad!  
With that Wii U of his came the new Super Smash Brothers and a Palutena Amiibo,  
Archer was so happy and impressed, his entire mind went WHOA!  
Happily running inside with his gift, he plugged everything in and he played a lot.  
And everyone in the manor enjoyed the gifts that they got.

* * *

Did Kayneth just see Santa flying out there in the streets?  
Kayneth's first thought was that there was something wrong with what he eats.  
Even for a magus like him something like Santa is completely unscientific.  
But if he was real, then wouldn't a present from him be terrific?  
As if on command, there were his presents, falling through the roof.  
One for him, one for his wife and one for his servant, that goof.

Each gift was a person, two people he knew and one he did not.  
"YUKIMURA!" A large man in armor, with a horned, furry helmet for Lancer, and Sola-Ui found him a bit hot.  
"OYAKATA-SAMA!" Lancer tried to smack him, but it was the gift who punched Lancer.  
"YUKIMURA!" But Lancer exchanged blows too, switching between hit and hitting like a nimble dancer.  
"OYAKATA-SAMA!" Both Lancer and this man were very glad that this encounter was happening.  
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kayneth shouted, finally snapping.

His wife got a man in green thighs "Diarmuid?", who made Sola-Ui his newest quest.  
As you can guess, Kayneth was against this, and boy did he protest!  
His own gift was a copy of his wife, who said "I love you, my dear."  
Kayneth's face became red, and kind words replaced his usual sneer.  
He thanked Santa for this great deed he had done,  
He finally had gotten his Sola-Ui that loves him after he tried so long.

* * *

Santa did not know what to say about the Einzbern group.  
They were quite Naughty, so he should give them coal in one fell swoop.  
But because they did it for the good of Niceness, he gave them presents for he felt almost obligated.  
This is why he didn't like to give presents to adults, they were so complicated.  
Flying over the castle, he dropped presents in front of the four:  
Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Saber and Maiya, each of them getting a gift that should keep them from the war.

Maiya was the first to open, and found a Kiritsugu doll, which made her squee.  
The others who watched this normally stoic person didn't believe anymore what they hear and see.  
Saber's present was food: Cow, pork, chicken, horse, rabbit and many other types of meat.  
If it was to Saber, than this day would quickly be changed into an all-you-can-eat.  
Irisviel lecherously looked at her servant, armed with some sort of weird fetish bridal dress.  
"Oh god, not again." And Saber's happiness changed into horror and stress.

As Irisviel was pursuing Saber, Kiritsugu unboxed his own present:  
A manly Yamaha motorcycle, with a letter attached to the end:  
"Evil deeds turn one naughty, and Good deeds make you nice;  
Perform nice deeds instead of naughty ones, and make virtues out of your vice!"  
Kiritsugu promised that from this moment on he would never sin.  
Ha, just kidding, he threw the letter in the rummage bin.

AAAAAAAAAA

It is Christmas in February here in Fuyuki, but it is also starting for you, dear readers and friends!  
For my somewhat late updates, I make my amends,  
But let us not think about those problems, and let us end this without jeer,  
I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!  
Of course, if you read this later at another time,  
I will still hope that your future days will be sublime!

* * *

Name: Santa Claus  
Class: Rider  
Master: Waver Velvet  
Alignment: Neutral Good  
Sex: Male  
Series of Origin: Real life

STR: C  
END: D  
AGI: C  
MGI: A+  
LUC: A  
NP: D~EX

_**Legend:**_  
Santa Claus originates from Saint Nicholas. During the fourth century he was the Bishop of Myra, where he became famous for giving monetary gifts to the poor. In the middle ages, kids would get presents on the 6th of December in his name.

When the reformation happened the veneration of Saints was seen as blasphemous by the Protestants, and Saint Nicholas gift day of December 6 was replaced by the Christkind's gift day of December 25. Everywhere? No, in the small country of the Netherland were people who didn't care about these reformation rules and continued with their Good Holy Man Sinterklaas.

When the Dutch settled in New York City, then still called Nieuw Amsterdam, they took their Saint with them. Over the years powers came and go, people changed and differentiated, but Saint Nicholas kept existing in some form, and is now most commonly known as Santa Claus. Even today, you might see him soaring through the night sky at Christmas Eve…

_**Tactics:  
**_Santa is against fighting, and tries to settle this naughty conflict peacefully. If that doesn't work then he throws coal at the evil aligned people before setting off to deliver presents to nice kids. Ho ho ho, merry Christmas!

_**Class Skills:**_

**Magic resistance: **D  
Grants protection against magical effects. Different from the Magecraft Resistance effect that merely negates prana, this ability cancels spells altogether. Cancels Single-Action Spells. Magic Resistance of the same degree as an amulet that rejects magical energy.

**Riding: **A_  
_The ability to ride vehicles and animals. All creatures but those of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast-rank can be used. This rank is high enough to have aptitude for the Rider class.

_**Personal skills:**_

**Charisma: **A  
The ability to lead people. Increases the abilities of allies during group battles. A rare talent that is inherited by the Saver class. A B-rank of this skill is suitable enough to lead a country. At this rank it can be said to have achieved the greatest level of popularity as a human being.

**Distance from Christmas: -  
**The ability to become stronger the closer the date gets to December 24th. On December 24th itself, all stats become EX-rank, and it turns all his Noble Phantasms into EX-rank on that day.

**Divinity**: D  
The measure of whether one has Divine Spirit aptitude or not. At high levels one is treated as a mixed of a divine spirit race, and the level declines when the Heroic Spirit's own rank as a Monster, Demonic Beast raises. It can also be decreased due to one's dislike for the gods. It also has an effect which reduces special defense values called "purge defense" in proportion to the Divinity's Rank. It can break through skills such as "Protection of the Faith" and "Enlightenment of the Sacred Fig".  
It has been said that Santa is based off the Norse All Father Odin, although there is little evidence to support this claim.

**Item Construction:** A+  
The skill to manufacture magical items. At this level one can fulfill wishes of all the (rich) people in the world.

**Saint: **-  
Being acknowledged as a Saint. When summoned as a Servant, the ability of Saint is selected among "raising the effectiveness of sacraments", "automatic HP recovery", "1 Rank-Up to Charisma" and "production of a holy shroud is now possible".

_**Noble Phantasm:**_

**Santa's Sleigh: Transport of the Good Holy Man  
**Rank: D~EX  
Type: Anti-Army, Anti-World  
Range: The whole world  
Maximum number of Targets: 7.125 billion

The Noble phantasm that allowed Santa Claus to be summoned as a Rider class servant. It is a sled capable of traveling at extreme speed, with higher speeds available the closer the date falls to December 24th. It travels fast enough that the underside of the sleigh sparkles with fire. This fire inflicts magic damage upon the enemy with a chance of inflicting burns on them.

**Santa's Sack: Bringer of Gifts to the Good and Nice  
**Rank: D~EX  
Type: Self  
Range: 1  
Maximum number of Targets: 1

The Noble Phantasm based on his legend of giving gift to all people. It is a sack capable of producing gifts for people of the Good and Neutral alignment. Evil aligned people will always get coal, unless circumstances are special enough that the naughtiness can be excused. The speed of production increases the closer the current date is to December 24th, reaching EX-Rank on said day.

**Nice or Naughty List: Determination of the ****Kindness of People****  
**Rank: B  
Type: Anti-Unit  
Range: Whole World  
Maximum number of Targets: 1

A list that determines what ones alignment is and what good and evil deeds one has performed in their life, determining if they were nice or naughty. The list shows the true name of anyone on this earth, and Santa can use this list to find out even the true names and abilities of servants.

_**Author's Advice:  
**_You have Santa as your servant. Why are you trying to fight in the war? Go and make the people of the world happy! Give presents to all, and make a happy Christmas, even if it isn't December!

Anyhow, if for some reason you do want to use Santa offensively, try to team up with a good and kind hero, and hope they don't want to kill Santa Claus. Let them make your ally's servant commit suicide, and after he had done that you must "silence" your enemy master. It's very difficult, but do your best.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!


	4. Second chances

**[3****rd**** of February, 20:23]**

Shock reigned over the battlefield. The matchless spear met its match; The tiger of Kai was slain; The strongest hero of the Sengoku period, killed on the first day of the war. It was unbelievable. Nobody would have thought that this hero, who had shown to be stronger than the other two knight classes, would be defeated this early.

But the victors didn't care with the how. For them, the only thing that mattered was the results: Saber is alive, and Lancer is dead. Irisviel quickly rushed to her servant, healing the wounds she received in combat before another pragmatic hero decided to finish off the weakened hero. The internal wounds healed quickly: The stabs Saber received from Lancer's "Rekka" were filled, new flesh filling the gaps. The two chopped off fingers regenerated, and were quickly movable again. The fractured jaw glued itself back together, and her face took on her normal shape once again. The only wounds that were healing slowly were the burns Lancer gave her, as if these were clinging onto their existence, being the only proof of Lancer's superiority in battle. While they did not injure her, they did gave her great pain; as if it was Lancer's dying curse, trying to drag Saber in his own agony.

Saber slowly stood up, checking her body for any uncured injuries, and found that she also had broken her leg. A three second magic spell managed to erase the last of her hindrances, and she was ready to go her way with her proxy master.

"Are you okay, Master?" Saber asked to Irisviel, wondering if anything had happened to her during the battle.

"I'm fine… but you look horrible." Irisviel was saddened, thinking about how the life of a girl was ruined with such battle scars. She knew that Saber was not an average girl, and considered herself a tool and an assassin, yet she still couldn't help but feel sad.

"I am alive, able to kill, and still able to taste that Fuyuki Beef you promised me. It could've been much worse."

Irisviel let out a small smile. "I guess it's true. But that red dress won't look nice with your current wounds. How about we buy you a ninja outfit to conceal your body?"

"Get serious, Irisviel." Saber directed an apathetic gaze to Irisviel, who lost her own smile in response.

"Saber…"

"If I need some face-concealing clothing, it has to be some magic armor I have to shout the name of, like going all _Incursio!_ or something like that." Saber made some exaggerated movement, wildly swinging her body around, until she couldn't hold it anymore, and burst out laughing, a measure of showing her victory. Irisviel joined her, and the two laughed for a minute, before they went on their marry wa-

Clunk. It was the sound of wood hitting on asphalt. The two women looked at the source of the sound, and they noticed the impossible: There stood Lancer, using his only arm to keep himself standing, giving a scowl of pain, and looking like he could die at any moment. But he was alive.

Saber's Noble Phantasm kills instantly. To stay standing after taking a hit is impossible. None can stand after taking a hit. Not even the strongest of warriors, the most agile of thieves, the most vital of knights… all will die after a single hit. Yet there he stood, defying all logic that was trying to kill him.

"This fight… isn't over, Saber-dono!" His voice was ragged, and Lancer had trouble to even speak, let alone shout like he just did. Yet he was still capable of running at Saber, trying to take her life.

Even with only a single arm left, he was still able to put Saber on the defensive. Saber was confused, unable to understand how someone could survive the "One-Cut Killer". Dodging and parrying the attacks Lancer made with his leftover arm she searched for an answer, but found none.

A lunge penetrated her defenses, burning her skin once again. Saber had a somewhat easier time now that she only faced one arm, but she still couldn't go on the offensive. Her only salvation was once again her master.

"_Saber, did your Noble Phantasm fail?" _The question resounded in Saber's head, asked by Kiritsugu. Saber herself didn't understand. He showed visible hinder from her blade's poison… his heart should be destroyed right now! He should fade to dust! He breaks every existing law in the universe! He should die! That madman must die! Fall over and bite the dust again! Return back to the throne, you mumbling abomination!

Kiritsugu noticed his servant's struggling, and decided to ease her problems by killing the root: Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi. Taking his sniper rifle once again, he laid down and aimed his crosshairs at Lancer's master. If he was gone, then Lancer would surely die from prana exhaustion.

But for some reason, he couldn't shoot.

It was not because he was physically incapable. If that was it, then Kayneth would be dead many times by now. It's not because killing him will have bad consequences. No, it's the opposite, killing him would only be good for him!

What prevented him from shooting was the massive fireball that was hanging in the sky. The dark night sky had been replaced with blue skies, like the fireball was replacing the sun. People all over Japan were waking up, looking at this strange sun that was clearing the night away.

In the middle of this sun stood the servant that created these flames: Lancer. He was burning brighter than the sun, a man who became the embodiment of his own soul. It would be comparable to a reality marble, because the blaze of his soul was projected onto the dark reality of this world.

Kiritsugu wanted to look away and simply shoot his master, but he couldn't. It was impossible for him to look away from those awesome flames. No man or woman could look away from the coolness of the fire. Saber was watching. Irisviel was watching. He was sure that even Maiya was watching. Nobody could turn away from that blaze.

"Saber!" Lancer shouted, louder than ever before. Standing in the middle of the fire, he shot glares at Saber that for some reason managed to actually physically hurt her. "Your class is supposed to be the paragon of virtue! How can you have fallen so low?! I will not allow this blasphemy to continue!" Lancer drew his weapons, now triple-wielding his tridents with a single hand. "Here I come, Saber! Fight me honestly and squarely, and die honestly and squarely! I, Yukimura Sanada, challenge you to a duel to the death!" The burning ball of fire descended upon the world, burning the trees beneath it. The fireball of doom slowly advanced towards the servant of the sword (because that's cooler than dropping fast).

All hope was lost, as Saber was completely out of options. She readied her sword, preparing for a last charge. Was there nothing that could save he-

"Three sacred treasures activate!"

Saber's rescuer appeared in the sky: Archer hovered in the air, blocking the fire with the shield that appeared on his left arm. His entire appearance had changed: His golden laurel was replaced with a golden Spartan helmet, golden bracelets replacing his leather ones, winged shoes covering his feet, and a golden breastplate covered his torso. In his right hand was a golden bow with blue and red ornaments, and on his left arm was a big golden shield.

"Pit!" Both Lancer and Saber said in varying degrees of loudness, recognizing the Noble Phantasms and its wielder. Jumping higher into the air, Lancer wondered why Archer returned to the battlefield.

"Remember that duel to the death you proposed? I accept it! I accept it right here, right now!" Archer readied his bow, preparing to fire several arrows at Lancer. "I'll fulfill my promise now, Lancer!"

Lancer looked at Archer, tears flowing from his eyes. "Archer…" Lancer recovered himself and wiped the tears off his eyes, and stood brightly before Archer. "Pride rests on the spears of honor and chivalry! Archer, I am so glad to fight you in this war!" He twirled his spears, his flames burning hotter than ever. "I am Sanada Nobushige Yukimura, General of the Takeda Army, follower of both lordships Takeda and El-Melloi! Here I come, Archer-dono!"

"I accept, Lancer!" Multiple golden arrows appeared on Archer's bow, each one ready to. "I am Pit, Servant of both Lady Palutena and Sir Tohsaka! Now let us fight!" The arrows were released at high speeds, each trying to honorably end Lancer's life. Lancer's flames burned them slightly, but Archer's spirit pierced every layer of the sun on their way to the core of Lancer's being.

With a single sweep of his tridents the arrows scattered, quickly losing their energy before being consumed by the sun. The ball of flames moved in on the flying servant, trying to imprint its flames onto Archer.

Bursts of fire flew out, each a powerful arrow on its own. These were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions; it took Archer many bolts of his own to stop even one of these flaming pillars, leaving him with only his dodging skills to graze what he couldn't destroy.

Swirling in between the flames, he sought for openings in Lancer's stance. But those were almost non-existent: His flames were like a big barrier protecting him, leaving nothing for him to take advantage of.

More flames shot out at the servant, and yet again he was able to evade them. But he also learned the horrible truth about Lancer: His flames were dwindling. Each attack was weaker than the last: The strength diminished; The diversity lessened; It's power sapped away; It was obvious that whatever Saber's blade did left its effects on the servant of the spear.

"Archer-dono!" Lancer suddenly emerged from the flames, tridents ready in his hand. He swept many times at Archer, trying to get a hit in, but most of them were blocked by the shield on Archer's arm.

"Lancer!" Archer responded to Lancer's spirit by changing his own bow into twin swords, and rushed at Lancer.

"Archer-dono!" Lancer grew a new, flaming arm out of sheer willpower and restarted duel-wielding his tridents. He returned Archer's favor, and came at him with full power.

"LANCER!" The swords cut through the air, each swing trying to drag Lancer's soul back to the Throne.

"ARCHER-DONO!" The spears pierced the flaming heavens, trying to claim Archer's head as their own.

The weapons clashed, each servant dodging and parrying each other while counterattacking. Both servants vocally let out their joy by loud battle cries.

The attacks became more and more, slowly but steadily reaching their apex. And when it was reached, both servants back away from each other, before deciding to settle it with a final clash.

"LAAAAANNNNCEEERRRR!" Discarding his half-molten armor, Archer rushed at Lancer with speeds beyond his limits.

"AAARRRCHERRR-DOOONOOOO!" Using all his flames to create a massive explosion behind him, he flung himself at Archer.

After a flight that took microseconds both spears and swords clashed into each other, creating a deadlock of unbelievable power and proportion:

The burnt trees beneath them turned into splinters upon being faced with this astounding force; Some of the nearby houses crumbled to dust when they saw the magnificence of the blow. Every part of the Fuyuki bridge but what was necessary to keep Kayneth standing tall and stable turned to dust from this… this… this indescribable greatness. And it looked very, very awesome.

But it was not without consequence. The dooming power left by Saber's blade finally washed over him, and he fell down to the ground, a smile on his face.

"Lancer!" Archer looked with shock at the fallen servant, and flew right after him, barely catching him before he crashed into the ground. Lancer looked more battered than even before his sudden revival, and his new arm already burned away. The last specks of fire had stopped burning, and all that was left was the half-dead body of Lancer.

"Archer…" Lancer's usual brash voice was replaced with a softer one, for he was incapable of speaking normally. "I am Sanada Nobushige Yukimura, and I have no doubt that our battle would have been the greatest of the entire war if it finished… yet my flames are exhausted and I can fight no longer. Go on; take my head as your trophy if you can promise me one thing, Archer-dono."

"What is it, Lancer?" Archer had kneeled down besides the dying servant, tears streaming down his face. He didn't want his friend to die, and neither did the dead man want to leave the honorable warrior alone. But fate would not grant their wish, so Lancer could only pass his to the servant of the bow.

"Win, Archer. Win this fight that I couldn't. Win the Grail and have your wish fulfilled. Show the enemies that the pride of warriors like us will triumph in the end!" His body stopped moving, and only the slight movements of his head indicated that he was still in this world.

"I will, Lancer! I will, my friend!" Archers tears doubled in amount. His sorrow over this loss was enormous, even higher when the other human he respected died. "I will win, and I will show the world the strength of warriors like us! So Lancer, even when we return to the Throne of Heroes, let us not forget about our fight! Let us remember it, so we can fight again on even standing!"

"Of course, my friend and rival. But please, grant one last request of mine: Chop my head off right now and take it as your trophy."

"Lance-"

"Archer-dono!" Lancer spoke loudly, returning Archer's focus. "I can die any moment now due to Saber's trickery, and I refuse to be killed by someone like her. I want you, a worthy opponent, to take my head, so I can return to the Throne with honor. Please grant my request, Archer."

With tears streaming from his face Archer readied his sword, and chopped Lancer's head off with a single blow. His head rolled over the ground, a satisfied smirk plastered on his face. It bounced a few times off the ground before it fell apart into red dust, being blown away with the wind, just like the rest of his crumbled body.

February 3rd, 20:33. The time of death of the first loser in the Grail War, Lancer. Only 6 servants to go.

**[February 3****rd****, 20:33]**

The battle was over, but nobody was able to take their eyes away from it. Saber, Kiritsugu and Maiya: All could feel the heroism and pride of this battle clashing with their very being. Irisviel, Kayneth: Both were awestruck by the displayed honor. Even the observers up above had their eyes glued to the battle, and only after Lancer died were Waver and Rider capable of rational thinking.

"So… it's done. Lancer is dead, right?" Waver stood still, his body not yet overcoming his own awe. He could not believe it. That someone that awesome would die that quickly. It was something he didn't expect.

Rider was the same, but he was over his awe faster. Recollecting himself, he told Waver that "Great things often last only a short time." Waver's dumbstruck face changed into joy upon hearing this, shouting and jumping from happiness.

"The first servant is down, and it's a strong servant too! And we've gathered important information on Saber without giving away our own identity! An-"

"Hold your horses, master." Rider damped Waver's mood, and turned to him. "It is certainly good news that there's a servant less to deal with, but we haven't won yet." Waver turned to his servant and started pouting, claiming that they had all rights to be happy and party. "I never said that we had no right to be happy." Rider walked over to a small wooden box in the corner, and pulled something out of it. Waver recognized the object as… a wine bottle? "So let us toast to the first death of this war, master." Taking two wine glasses from the cabinet, he poured wine for the both of them to enjoy.

Just as Rider wanted to pour the second glass, he hesitated. "What wrong, Rider?" Waver asked to his loyal servant. "Did something happe-"

"Are you allowed to drink?" Rider asked in all seriousness.

"Hah?"

"Because you don't look like you're old enough."

Waver became quite furious. "I'm nineteen! I've had wine, beer; heck, I even had 50% vodka!"

A small squabble occurred. Waver was throwing insults at Rider, who got somewhat angry too. Both master and servant continued until they grew tired of it, which was after 5 minutes.

They looked outside once more, noticed the changes that happened down below, and planned their new action after taking a nice sip of wine.

"Master." Rider ordered Waver, "You return back home and go to sleep. The ship is programmed to stand still a few blocks away from our base, and you should be able to get off. I will get off here, because I have a few backup plans I want to set in motion."

Waver complied, and the two of them decided to execute their plans…

**[February 3****rd****, 20:34]**

Saber was relieved: It was finally over. Lancer was dead for good. One of, maybe even THE biggest threat of this war had been eliminated. His master was shot and fell to death, meaning that he cannot forge a contract with any of the possible upcoming free servants. This first night went well… for the most part. Because there is currently one big problem for Saber:

Archer.

He was somewhat wounded from his final duel with Lancer, but compared to the wounds Saber received, they were mere scratches. If Archer would want it he could fight Saber, and the chance was very high that it would become Saber's funeral if Kiritsugu's command seals didn't interfere. There were two ways to go with the usage of a command spell: Either it gets used to heal Saber, or it gets used to teleport Saber away from the battle.

Kiritsugu had to choose one of these options. The first might not heal Saber to her full extent, leaving an underpowered Saber to fight Archer. The second would absolutely save Saber, but Irisviel would be left alone with an enemy servant. What to choose…

The decision was hard, but a single memory he had from a few years ago revealed that a "heal" command only shuts the wounds instead of healing them, making it the less desirable option. Kiritsugu hated it, but now was the time to sacrifice Irisviel for the greater good. He raised his arm, the command seals visible to his own eyes. He imagined the shape of the seals, a focus that allowed him to concentrate on the command seal: _"Saber, I order you:"_ The seals glowed a bright red color, resonating with the master's will, ready to unleash a miracle bordering magic. _"Return back t-" _

"Saber!" It was said quickly with a big burst of power, enough to break Kiritsugu's concentration. Looking at the source, he saw a furious Archer, who was more than enough reason to hurry up and order Saber back to the castle. "I should send you to the underworld, right now." His jovial expression was gone, replaced with anger and hate. It was unfitting for the angelic Archer to be seen like that, but only because he hadn't been in a situation like this before. His newfound friend, who was murdered before his time, with whom he couldn't have his promised "great battle"… and the one who ruined Lancer's hopes: Saber. Yet she still stood there, ready to murder another day. For a person who ruins fighting to such a degree, Archer had nothing but hate. "I should kill you right now." Archer's bow was still materialized, and Saber used the last of her strength to hold up her katana. "But I won't." To be filled with rage and hate… Archer couldn't let the likes of his former enemies get the last laugh. Especially Hades, he would be laughing his ass off when he sees his former "divine" enemy corrupted with evil.

Archer retrieved himself, once again following in the steps of his goddess. "There has been enough war for today." His expression switched from anger to indifference to sadness, his body slumping more every second. "Today we will grief the fallen… so go home, Saber… just… go home." A tear dropped from Archer's eye as he looked to his friend's place of death.

Saber had to hide her laugher as she walked away from the scene of battle. That idiot of an Archer let a weakened enemy walk away because of his grief. He might've performed the most stupid action of this war, to let an almost dead enemy live! Saber couldn't believe her luck.

She walked away with her proxy master who was performing some healing magecraft to restore the wounds she still had left from Lancer.

A small "Tsk" Could be heard from the man controlling the shadows of Fuyuki. This man didn't like Archer, for he was too much of a noble warrior to kill a weakened enemy. He also didn't like Saber, her pragmatism a dangerous opponent in a war. Since Archer didn't want to finish Saber, the man guessed he had to do it himself.

A command was spoken to the shadows, and the shadows followed the order. The patched-up Saber stared in stressing surprise at the monstrous beings that stepped out of the shadows: 3 sleek humanoid grey monsters, with zippers for mouths and a weird symbol on top of their head. The other two looked stronger, large golem-like enemies with massive bronze claymores. They spoke no words, but made their hostile intent quite clear.

Saber readied her weapon, and not a moment later did the monsters start to attack. The two larger monsters, golems as Irisviel called them, jumped in the air and slammed down on the concrete where Saber stood a moment ago, causing rubble to scatter about. More slashes came from these two enemies, who were now solely focused on the weakened Servant.

Two minions of a servant against the strongest of servants, Saber. In a normal situation the outcome would be a no-brainer. Saber wins. But now it was different. The two minions took every advantage they had: Saber was wounded and tired from a previous battle. They had strength in numbers. They had ambushed Saber. They kept reserves that could attack at any moment, forcing Saber to stay defensive. The battle was even, neither side directly capable of defeating the other.

Saber looked troubled. The attacker should think that Saber is a weak servant with a powerful Noble Phantasm that instantly kills whatever it cuts. In reality it can only insta-kill living beings, meaning that golems like these are the most dangerous opponent for her. Because she didn't want to reveal her weakness this quickly she decided to stay defensive until she had a chance to instantly kill her opponent.

Dodging in all directions, she waited for the moment the smaller enemies would strike. They most likely would ambush her to inflict a handful of pain, decreasing her fighting strength. The place where they stood in the beginning was now empty, so they would probably strike soo-

"KYAAAH!" Irsiviel screamed, and Saber internally cursed herself. These two big guys were a distraction so the smaller ones could kill her proxy master. She wanted to rush over, but she was incapable of doing so, for the big golems blocked the line between master and servant.

Irisviel herself was in a quite decent pile of problems: She was not weak, for her transmutation and healing magecraft made her a greater magus than her husband Kiritsugu, and she was still quite the capable combatant. But against those inhuman beings? She was greatly underpowered. She managed to temporarily bind one of the monsters, but the other two continued to lash out at her, cutting deeply in several parts of her body. It hurt, but she wouldn't die that simply. The vessel of the Grail would not die that quickly and easily. Yet she lacked any good ways to kill these things, so all she could do was to reduce the taken damage as much as possible. Dodging and weaving through the enemies, she tried to escape, but the monsters were faster.

This cat-and-mouse play continued for several moments, but when the third broke free and she wasn't capable of binding a new one, she was overwhelmed by the power of the three: One tried to pierce her heart. The second would chop her head off if she blocked the first. The last would anticipate her dodges to cut her when she evaded. Seeing that her own servant was kept busy by the two larger enemies, she closed her eyes and prepared for her own death. "Saber, I'm sorry we couldn't have more fun." These words would be the last in her mind… or so she thought.

After three seconds that seemed like an eternity, she opened her eyes, only to find two of the tinier monsters pierced by blue arrows and the third currently in a blade lock with Archer.

"Archer?" Irisviel was confused by the sudden save of the legendary bow user. Why would he help the enemy?

"When I say that it is time for grieving, then… we… grieve!" He used his strength to cleave through the defenses of the last tiny opponent before standing between Irisviel and the two larger golems as an iron wall. "Whichever cowardly servant you are, cease your fighting now. One of us has already fallen; I don't want more blood to be shed today." Changing his twin swords into a bow, he loaded his weapon with two arrows, one for each opponent that was still trying to kill Saber.

The man of the shadows got angry. How dare that idiotic Archer ruin his plans! He had the chance to be the only knight class left, but he ruined it! He did not care about his minions. He had tons to replace those that fell in battle. The only real problem was that the creation of these minions, his Noble Phantasm, was now uncovered. Damn. The last option left was a suicide charge at the master. And he ordered his minions to do so.

At least, if it wasn't for that voice that suddenly occurred in the sky: "Archer, by my first command seal I order you to assist these golems at killing Saber and her Master." A big grimace showed on the man in the shadows, clearly agreeing with this Tohsaka who is Archer's master. Perhaps when Archer was gone he could switch to that person's side. He probably had more prana reserves than his current master too, so it wouldn't be that bad…

Pulling himself out of his dreams and into reality, he ordered his minions to not attack Archer and also to keep Saber occupied so Archer could kill her master.

Archer charged… at Saber? The man in the shadows cursed once more, forgetting in his bliss that while the servant was ordered to kill he would not forsake his pride. That Servant would only kill other servants, his honor not allowing himself with striking the master down from the shadows. But does it really change that much?

If Archer wants to kill the servant, then so be it. He would just switch the roles of his minions from "Distract Saber" to "Kill Saber's Master".

He only needed to wait for a good moment to switch the roles. If he did it too early, than Saber would use the opening to cut the minions down. If he did it too late than the master would escape. The best chance was directly after Archer and Saber clashed. In that case the master couldn't escape too far, and Saber will not be able to kill any of his minions.

From one of the nearby buildings Kiritsugu saw all of this unfold, and he couldn't help but blame himself for the trouble he's in. He let Saber go too far against Lancer, and as a result she got severely damaged, incapable to respond to counterattacks from other pragmatic servants. And now that both Archer and most likely Caster's minions were trying to kill Saber he had no other choice than to sacrifice Irisviel for the survival of Saber. He would choose the path of the least deaths, which was now the lone death of his wife. He turned his heart into steel, and gave the order: _"Saber, I order you, return to the castle instantly."_

Both Archer and the master of the golems looked surprised when Saber phased out of existence, disappearing in a flash. Either Saber used a second Noble Phantasm or this was the result of a command seal. Was that white-haired master prepared enough to provide a possible back-up master? Oh well, it didn't matter for the man in the shadows. He would kill Saber's master and be on his way. The death of two masters and one servant was a pretty decent start for the first day of the Grail War.

He snapped his fingers, and the two golems rushed at Irisviel. She was frozen in fear, and not capable of survivi-

Two arrows. Two arrows pierced the heads of the golems, followed by seven more that randomly stuck in his underlings. They disappeared in particles of darkness, and even those disappeared quickly. There was nothing that would remind people of these inhuman beings.

The man of the shadows was surprised at Archer's sudden betrayal, but even he knew that the power of the command seal was not omnipotent. Its effects probably decayed after Saber disappeared. But it had been a good night: One Knight class was done for, and the other two both lost a command seal. Satisfied he returned to his master.

The two that were left had a small discussion over Archer's heroic rescue: "Why… why did you save me, Archer?" Irisviel was relieved, but she was unable to find a good answer for that question. Sure, she was glad that she could stay alive for a while longer, but for Archer to negate the effects of a command seal to save her? It was absurd!

"My orders were to kill Saber and her master. But you are neither Saber nor her master. I'm doubtful that you are even a master! Since you are not a direct contestant of this war you could say that you are just a more special than average human, and that's a race that protect."

Irisviel understood Archer's reasoning now. He was clearly a good person, one that truly fits the role of a 'Heroic' servant. "Then I thank you, Archer. I, Irisviel von Eiznbern, am in your debt." Irisviel gracefully thanked the servant, and went on her way to the estate.

"Hey, uhm… Irisviel?" Archer seemed to want one last thing from Irisviel. Irisviel turned around, and she saw Archer averting his eyes from her, and a slight blush covered his cheeks. "You said something about a debt, and… well… would you please go out with me?!" The last words were almost shouted out of Archer's mouth, and Irisviel could only look flabbergasted at the servant. "I mean, you are a beautiful mature woman, with pretty long flowing hair, and from what I have seen you have a noble personality too… which also made me more sure that you weren't a master-servant pair with Saber… Oh, and you smell really good! So do you want to go out with me?" Archer was cheery again, his grief lowered by the power of love.

Irisviel was lost, and could only mumble out a straight "What?"

"Hey, angels have needs to, you know? So, want to go out ye-"

"I'm married."

…

…

"Dang it."

**[4****th**** of February, 4:12]**

_Boring. This dream was boring as hell, under the assumption that hell is actually punishment by boredom. Uryu didn't turn his eyes away from the main character of the dream, Caster, who was sitting in her room, doing nothing… for years._

"_This is so fucking boring! What's wrong with your life, Flan? Why aren't you doing some cool stuff, like killing people?" Uryu wondered, angry with the boredom of the dream. He didn't expect any response from Caster, but shouting like this was a good anger relief method. It felt like ages were passing, without any real change. Uryu tried to pinch himself, trying to wake up from this boredom so he could spend some time with Flan cooking humans in new and cool ways._

"_Ryu?" Uryu did not expect to hear his name called, but he didn't care. This was a change, and something different in this boring dream can never be bad._

"_Yo, who's there?" He looked around, but saw no one, except for that which already was. "You aren't invisible, right? Cause that would make it really hard to find you."_

"_No, I'm right here! Look at me, Ryu." Uryu suddenly recognized the voice, and looked at the only place she had seen her. Caster was suddenly looking at his exact position, and gave a big grin as she waved to her master._

"_How can you see me? Isn't this supposed to be your dream?"_

"_Who knows? Perhaps I'm talking to an imaginary friend named Ryu, and I correctly estimate his position, questions and habits? Maybe I have gone insane? Or you can just accept it under the premise that where I come from common sense will only hold you back." She flew through the air, landing next to where Uryu stood. "Anyways, I recommend that we skip some years. The real fun starts 495 years after I was locked in this place, which is not, well, now." Pulling some sort of remote control out of her pocket, she pressed some buttons that made the time inside the dream speed up hundred, no, thousandfold. After a few minutes Caster paused it, returning time to normal._

"_Well, we've finally arrived at the good stuff." Turning to Uryu, she showed him a comfy chair with snacks and drinks. "Enjoy the fight, Uryu." As she said this, she left Uryu and returned to the bed in her room,_

_Uryu took her up on her offer and settled in the comfy sofa. It was nice and comfy, and easy to sit in! Grabbing some popcorn and a bottle of coke, he waited eagerly for the bloodbath that was going to occur._

_After a few minutes two people burst through the door. One was an __armpit-showing__ shrine maiden and the other was an apron-wearing mage._

"_Say Marisa, didn't we fight her separately instead of together?" The miko asked to her friend Marisa, very slightly disoriented by this change of pace._

"_Yeah, we did." The Magician shrugged, "I guess someone wants to keep our fight short, ze. Otherwise, just select one of the following: Magic, Eirin's new shady drug, Yukari fooling around again or a Moriya Shrine conspiracy da ze."_

"_Aren't templates like that forbidden?" The priestess asked in a monotone, deadpan voice._

"_Am I one to ever follow the rules, Reimu?"_

_Reimu thought of it, if she could find some way to prove her friend wrong, but she had to agree with that fact. "Yeah, you're right. But aren't we forgettin-" And the door through which the duo entered suddenly blew up, forcing them to look at the origin of the explosion: "Oh yeah, boss battle against her. Sorry for ignoring you."_

_Caster was still angry, and she raged at the two: "We have visitors wanting to watch us fight! Can you two at least get serious while we are doing it?"_

_The duo sighed, before claiming that they had to make up some 'pre-battle' script before they could start the battle. "Lessee, what are we going to talk about Reimu?"_

"_Let's just fight her already." Caster threw her arm into the air from joy when she heard that._

"_Good enough, ze." All three girls flew up in the air, ready to blast each other to smithereens._

_[Taboo: Cranberry Trap - Ryu version]_

_Bullets started to form along the __walls__ of the room, and shot at the duo from many angles. "A spell card already?" Marisa wondered, "What happened to the good ol' non-spellcards?"_

"_We have a slight time constraint for this battle, Marisa. He can only stay for so long here, so I cannot waste too much time on you. Sorr-ugh." The spellcard broke from the pair's counterattacks, forcing her to use a new one: [Taboo: Laevetainn – Master Version]. Her wand changing in__to__ a massive sword, she swung at the two wildly. The swings were dodged ,but flames lingered in the spots the swords had been, leaving less and less space for the two to maneuver to. Eventually Marisa became trapped, forcing her to [Love Sign: Master Spark] the living daylights out of the bullets._

_Many more spells were used, the room becoming a sea of bullets with beautiful waves splashing against the coastal borders of the room. The battle raged on, but Caster couldn't land good hits on either of the duo, and in the end she lost. The three fighters decided to skip the tea and rice crackers and went on their way, leaving Caster alone with Uryu._

"_So Ryu, how did you like some this true Gensokyan battle?" Caster asked to her __guest__, a big smile on her face. She pulled Uryu out of his chair, causing the last remains of his popcorn to fall down on the ground. Uryu was up, but he wasn't nearly as happy as his servant._

"_I agree that it looked quite pretty. But this fight was like a good movie with a bad ending. It was a beautiful fight, but the only damage that occurred are those scratches on your clothes!"_

_Caster sighed in agreement, unhappy with the current way of life. Her smile disappeared, and she sat down on her bed, now acting fully serious. "Let me explain, Ryu. Once upon a time, before I lived here, there were no fighting rules in Gensokyo. People killed and murdered each other for various reasons. Some fought to gain power; others fought for justice; there were people who fought for science, for popularity, for many reasons. They slaughtered and were slaughtered. But this all changed when the creator of this world, Yukari Yakumo, attacked. She was saddened by the destruction of all she worked for, so she purged the world. 4 people survived: Those two you just saw were two of them, and they were originally meant to be the only ones to survive, the Lif and Lifprasir. The third was the Flower Youkai, the only one powerful enough to shrug off Yukari's purge. The fourth one was the seven-colored magician, thanks to the God of Makai sacrificing herself so her child could survive. She put the leftover survivors in cryosleep, and sought for new people outside of Gensokyo to refill her lands, which is the group I belong to. To prevent a new slaughter she installed very strict rules on battling, which may now only be done by way of Danmaku battling. As such, all life-or-death battles were reduced to the state you just saw."_

"_Truly a pity." Uryu didn't like it. Who was this Yukari? Why does she think she is? All she has done so far is oppress the people living here. She's turned this place into a land of prisoners! Uryu disliked her. She may sound powerful, but she is a mere monster. Just a monster that enacts its own unjust laws!_

_Uryu got madder and madder with every passing moment, anger welling up within him. "Hey, Flan?" Caster looked at her master, and saw the new aura that he excluded: gone was his playful killing, replaced with stern seriousness. His heart was now filled with a cause, and his eyes shone brightly. He understood now his purpose in life: He would liberate this world. He would create a world in which the strong fight, and the weak get murdered. A world in which Flan could roam free and do as she wants. "Didn't you say that there was this thingy you fought for to get your wish fulfilled?"_

_Caster was surprised to __see__ her master finally interested in the Grail War. "Yes, the Holy Grail. Why do you want to know, Uryu?"_

"_Isn't it obvious? We are going to get that Grail and liberate the world!"_

_Caster happily nodded, and promised that they were going to win this fight!_

…

…

…

"_So, what now?" The dream had a great moment to finish, but for some reason it seems like it wasn't over yet._

_Caster offered a few options: the first option was to wake up now, but then he would wake up at half past four in the morning instead of eight o'clock. The second option was to wait here for 3 and a half hour. The last option was to explore more dreamworlds!_

_It wasn't even a choice, and the two decided to use Caster's strange remote control to travel to other awesome dreams!_

"_Hey Flan, where did you get that control from?"_

"_I'm Caster-class, of course I'm knowledgeable in Item Creation!"_

"_Okay, that works." After a small exchange of words the duo ended up in another dream. Here they saw a red-headed teen watch the life story of a golden king. The boy was pretty unremarkable, the only thing that looked special about him was his hair that shone like a blazing fire. No, it was the story of the king that he was following that was special:_

_The king, two-thirds god and one-third human, was born as ruler of the greatest nation of its time, and raised it to great glory. But he got arrogant, and the gods wanted to punish him. For this they created a man of the wilds, who challenged the king to a fight. After shaking both heaven and earth they ended in a draw, and the king found his first friend in the man. They went on many adventures: slaying the guardian of the cedar forest; The retrieval of their treasures from the underworld; Their defeat of the bull of heaven; They had a great time together. But the defeat of the divine bull caused repercussion-_

_The world started to crumble, like its existence was destroyed. Who or what could have done thi-_

"_Oops." Caster apologetically said. Well, that defines who did it. The world crumbled, and eventually altered into nothingness._

_There was nothing left, except for Caster and Uryu._

_No, that's not right. There was someone else. It was… a green-yellow mushroom?_

"_You! You destroyed my Ilya Route!" This mushroom shouted, "Shirou would have gotten Gilgamesh as his servant; he would fight Saber, Archer, Rider and Berserker at the same time; he would've become bros with Kirei! It contained 300% more awesome than the Heavens Feel route! And you destroyed it! Now I have to put HF with the other two routes and sell it as a single novel instead of two awesome ones! All because of you!"_

_Both Uryu and Caster apologized for their actions, but the mushroom was not satisfied. He recognized the companion of Uryu, and summoned Him._

_Between the two parties appeared a middle-aged Asian man with a beautiful green hat, and his mere sight was enough to make Caster fall on her knees._

"_M-Milord ZUN!" She shakenly stated in utter respect. This man, who stood above her world, was now judging over her._

"_Flan? Why are you kneeling?" Uryu didn't get it. Why would she need to kneel? If she… no, that would not be it. Perhaps… yes, that was it! This man was chaining Flan down, forcing her in her room! He would change that._

_He turned to the man, anger flaring off in bursts of him. "So, you are also responsible for putting her down in this state, right?" The man nodded. He was her creator, so she would fulfill the goals he set for her. "I cannot forgive that! I will make sure you will be punished for this!"_

_ZUN looked at this man, who dared to face him just so he could sa__v__e one of his creations. He turned away from the duo, claiming that their comradery was splendid. "Never tarnish it." He gestured the mushroom to follow him, letting the other two "live in their own folly, which will turn in despair when they realize it. Now come, Nasu. Our work here is done." The mushroom let out a small "Tsk" before following the other man, both disappearing from existence._

_The master-servant duo had enough of this world too, and used the remote to escape to another dream._

_In this new world stood a lone hero, watching the life of his servant: a girl who was raised to become the greatest assassin of the empire, only to rebel the very empire that raised her._

"_Now remember Flan, don't blow up this world too." These words said by the orange-haired __master__ reached the ears of the black-haired master, who turned around in surprise._

"_Who are you__?__" He asked in a manner that would fit an evil interrogating cop. The duo introduced themselves as Uryu and Flan, with Flan adding that she was summoned as the servant Caster of this Grail War._

"_So there is a servant that can trespass into other people's dreams? How troublesome." The other master turned around, looking at the interrupters of his dreams. They just stood there, watching both him and the life story of the servant that was unfolding._

"_And I see that your servant is that red-eyed demon. Will she be interesting to play with or is the__re__ a limit to what she can muster, mister master?"_

"_There is no need for my servant to play with you if you want to fight in here. After all, even I can be hero in my own dreams!" The world changed as those words were spoken. Gone was Saber's history. This new place is a battlefield basking in the twilight, littered with hundreds, thousands, unlimited guns. Caster and Uryu look in amazement at the world alteration that's occurring before their eyes. The other master stood in front of the two of them, and he had notably changed: gone were the formal dark clothes of the assassin, the shroud of murder having fallen from his shoulders. He was now clad in brilliant white armor, a paladin that protects all. Two guns appeared in his hands, his trusty Thompson Contender in his left and a Calico M950 in his right. The scattered guns on the ground started to float around Kiritsugu, each one aimed at the opposing pair. "Now let me show you the power of my dreams given form. Face these Unlimited Gun Works!"_

**[4****th**** of February, 7:45]**

There were many things Waver found annoying in his life. His teacher El-Melloi, physical work, Sir Archibald, his own lack of magic circuits, that asshole of a Kayneth... yep, many things. But what he hates the most right now is that accursed alarm clock that keeps on bleeping no matter how often he snoozes!

After the third snooze, he decided that he would take it no longer and angrily slammed the clock again before he got out of bed and decided that it was time to start the day. Changing from his pajama to his normal clothes he was ready to start eating breakfast. Well, he was. He slightly lost his appetite when he saw his servant reading the prototype of the manuscript he created which had gotten him public humiliation.

He was slightly scared when Rider read it, hoping that he wouldn't dismiss it like that teacher did. No, he should forget about that forged rating his teacher gave him! He knew that it was great! Not perfect, probably, but it has to be at least an eight out of ten.

"Waver." Surprised by his servant's words he looked to Rider, who was finished reading his paper. "How did your professor rate this script?" Waver let out all his frustrations, fumingly explaining how that guy gave him such an horrendous score. "I agree, it is a tad low."

"It is, isn't it?! Such a great work should at least deserv-"

"I give you 42 points." Rider interrupted his master's speech to announce the worth he had given to this work.

"Out of fifty?" Waver was content with such a score. Slightly higher than his minimum worth, he found it acceptable.

"No, out of hundred." Waver's high hope shattered like a dropped glass figurine. He was first in shock at his servant's "betrayal", followed by sadness, which turned into emptiness before it settled into anger and rage.

"What do you mean with that, Rider? Did Kayneth's will state that you would inherit his entire fortune as long as you discredit my theories?" After processing this thought for a second, Waver realized that it was quite improbable. But compared to his paper being bad? It was many times more likely.

"No, I deemed it bad because you made many mistakes that would determine your research useless." Rider was still sticking to his belief that Waver was wrong, and Waver still wouldn't except such a thing.

"Name one."

"Well…" He flipped the script to the page with conclusions. "Let's see… the main conclusion was one that annoyed me the most: 'Thanks to this method it is possible for a magus to become stronger during life, which will in turn increase the strength of his offspring by the currently known genetic heritage.'" He closed the book and threw it on the desk, not wanting to read it again. "Tell me, did you ever hear about Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and his theory of adaptation?" Waver shook his head, not knowledgeable of wisdom outside magecraft. "It was a theory that can be boiled down to the ability of parents to give their offspring knowledge or skills by having the parent become stronger or smarter. It was proven wrong, just as this conclusion of yours. People cannot share their own experience through genetics."

Waver wanted to retort, but it made sense: if he would become a weightlifter then his kids would not be stronger than the children of others. But still this was only one mistake. Surely that wasn't worth almost 60 points of reduction!

"To be precise, master, your entire paper is based on biased conclusions." Waver's anger flared, ready to use a command seal to shut his servant up. He really wanted to use it, but he calmed himself down, not wanting to waste a powerful resource on something trivial and unimportant when compared to the Grail. No, he would listen, and rebut Rider's arguments. It would be hard to beat him, but he would succeed! "Your research is about the improvement of one's magecraft through experience. While a noble goal to research, it is also impossible the way you describe it. A possible way for one to improve is to improve the quality of these magic circuits you describe. It would be the same as a runner improving his speed by running a lot. On the other hand, the increase of magic circuits that you describe is like a high jumper growing wings because he jumped a lot. Half your work is trying to provide proof for a fact that can be theoretically disproven."

"Ah, since when are you a magecraft expert?"

"I'm not. The subjects I taught as a professor may not have anything to do with all that magic you learn, but those beginner's magic guides you hide in your room combined with basic logic provide me with a decent grasp on this matter." He shifted his hand into the inside of his cloak, and pulled out a similar paper as the one Waver submitted. "Using your research data I have written a better version, one that will cause your teacher to at least give you 90 out of 100 points." He handed the document to his master, who looked with disgust at the front page:

"New research for temporary improvement of magecraft efficiency? That's not what I wanted to research!" Waver wanted to tear it apart, this mockery of all the efforts he put in his work. How dare he! How dare that servant dismiss him like that!

"It might not be what you wanted, it still is what you found out. Most solutions start out as either accidents or unexpected results from something completely different. Your discovery is the same!"

"But it is not what I want! I wanted to prove that people can become stronger with experience too! That a difference in the number of circuits you were born with can be overcome with hard work and determination!"

"That will not happen." The heated argument went cold, Waver unable to bring out his shock and anger in any way possible. "Some people are more talented than other people. And from what I can measure from your prana output I can say that you are not a strong magus, a skilled one at best. Compared to the master of Saber and her wire magecraft or the complex bounded fields Lancer's master put around himself you are pretty much nothing."

Waver just stared at him. These words, these words he knew so well but that he didn't want to accept. They pierced straight through him, showing him the harsh truth of reality. His dream was shattered. Waver broke down into tears, unable to hold himself. He cried, loud enough that Rider was glad that both of Waver's fake grandparents left for shopping.

"There, there, Waver." Rider took the kid in his arms, and Waver noticed how much larger his servant felt. The cries of the master soon disappeared, and his eyes stopped watering. "You may be a terrible third-rate magus, but I guarantee that you are a first-class researcher. One of the new magecrafts you created was truly amazing: The usage of prana to improve circuit efficiency will probably alter the way people look at the genetic heritage of magic circuits."

"Really?" Waver looked at his servant not believing anything. He did not trust this caring side of Rider.

"Really. It will cause magi all over the world to focus even more on the amount of magic circuits one has to determine one's potential."

Rider realized that this statement went against everything that Waver was trying to prove, and the results were imminent: Waver started crying. Again. Rider chastised Waver for his continuous crying, saying something about how he should be proud of what he is capable of, and just learn other skills to make up for the things he is lacking in. "In my case, next to archeology I also have enough knowledge of mechanical engineering, technical chemistry and biology to create the Noble Phantasms you have seen; And I am also well-versed with the piano and hold a high rank in parkour and a multitude of combat techniques. What you lack in 1 area you can make up for with other parts. You may have your limits, but you can overcome them with knowledge from outside the box. So don't cry, master. If you cannot succeed with pure magic, than combine with other techniques to fulfill your dreams!"

Waver calmed himself down and wiped away his tears. Rider may be right. He is not a great magus, but a great researcher. It's true, but he will not give up on his dream: He will become a first-rate magus, but instead of searching for an oblivious truth he will now use all at his disposal to reach his limits, and he will overcome those limits using everything he knows!

"Rider." His voice contained no more childish dreams, having woken up to harsh reality. "What you say is true. Your words make me know what I want now. I will win this grail war and gain power equal, no, beyond that of the true magicians. And even if I fail, I will take all routes possible to become stronger and greater. It won't be easy, but I will give it my all, Rider."

Rider was content with these words. His master had gotten serious. He had gotten a goal, a true and realizable one. "If that is your wish, master, then I promise to help you on your path. I will stand beside you as you reach greatness never seen before. So do not give up, and give it your all, Waver."

"I will, Rider. I will."

**[4****th**** of January, 9:46]**

Kariya woke up from another painful and sleep-deprived night. Sleeping was already difficult in this monster's house, and the worms inside his body only made it worse. He was lucky that he managed to eventually fall asleep around four o'clock, so he had around five hours of sleep. It should be just enough for the upcoming day, and he needs all the time he can get to kill enemy servants.

Honestly, he didn't even want to sleep in this house. If it was to him, he would simply roam the streets with his servant and ambush enemies whenever he could. But Berserker didn't agree with this plan, and opted that roaming the streets is only an available option after the original base has been destroyed. Stupid servant, he wished Berserker would get along with his plans for once.

Walking down the stairs of the manor while still yawning loudly, he found himself in the living room where Berserker was working on a big oversight.

"Well, Berserker, managed to kill any servants this night?" Kariya sarcastically asked to his servant, not expecting much from someone who holes himself up and only sends minions to fight his enemies. Consider his surprise when he told him that Lancer was dead and the other knight classes were forced to use a command seal each.

"I admit, you did better than I expected. I apologize for wanting to force you to fight on the field."

"No hard feelings." Berserker replied dryly before returning to his schedule. He drew a few lines, circled some things on it, before looking with great satisfaction at the results. "Master, could you please look at this?" Berserker turned the oversight so that Kariya had a good view of it, showing names of various masters and servants:

In one circle stood the words "Saber" and "Einzbern", which was connected to another circle with the words "Emiya" and a question mark between brackets. Another circle containing the words "Tohsaka", "Archer" and "Pit" that is connected to a circle with the words "Kotomine" and another question mark. In another circle were the words "El-Melloi", "Lancer" and "Yukimura Sanada", and a dotted line is connected to a circle with the words "Velvet" and another question mark. The last circle was unconnected to any other, and contained the words "Matou" and "Myself". Outside the circles stood the words "Rider", "Caster", "Assassin", and "Possible other master".

"So, do you understand what I've written down here?" Berserker asked to his master, hoping to get a good answer.

"Well, they're master-servant relationships… But I think I would miss the finer details of this schematic unless you explain everything."

Berserker was content with this answer, and started explaining: "This is a schematic of all master servant pairs and underlying relationships between these pairs. The two of us did start off with a major disadvantage: The other pairs are already divided into three camps, each consisting of a knight class and a non-knight class. The first pair is led by the Tohsaka you despise so much. I am quite convinced that his servant is Archer, whose true identity is Pit."

"Who's this Pit you are talking about?" Kariya interrupted. He was unfamiliar with the name of this hero, and he doubted that Tokiomi would summon some nameless hero as his servant. A Tohsaka should never be forced to summon a servant without catalyst considering their influences and money, and should always have some really famous hero at their side.

"Do you know the legends of Perseus and Icarus?" Kariya recalled the stories about these heroes: One was about a demigod who slew the gorgon Medusa and the sea serpent Cetus. He was a cunning and brave hero who was armed with several items the Gods granted him, and Kariya was sure that those would return as Noble Phantasms in case he was summoned as a servant; The other was about a tragic man who wanted to fly. He succeeded with artificial wings, but fell to his doom after his wings were burned by the sun. "Archer can be seen as the true origin of these stories. And who is the most likely master to have a powerful servant from Greek Mythology?"

"Tokiomi Tohsaka. Of course." It was pretty obvious now that Kariya thought about it. Someone like Perseus is what he expected of that child-abandoner. It would make this battle a lot harder…

"Yes. There wasn't even a need to guess, he announced it for the world to hear. Anyhow, that Tohsaka has Kotomine Kirei working with him. They worked 3 years as teacher and student, so they are likely to be allied. The same situation applies to the El-Melloi/Velvet alliance. Another teacher-student pair, of which we know that El-Melloi's servant is Yukimura Sanada, summoned as the Lancer class. This pair has been killed off yesterday, leaving Velvet as a sole survivor. The last pair is the Einzberns. Servant Saber was sighted with a silver-haired, red-eyed woman."

"So, she was sighted with an Einzbern." Kariya was given the bare minimum of knowledge from his grandfather, and one of those few things he learned was that the Einzbern would use a homunculi with silver hair and red eyes, shaped after their ancestor Justeaze von Einzbern.

"Yes, that's the same thing Zouken said. That means that the Einzbern master has summoned Saber. Your grandparent also managed to uncover that the Einzberns hired the magus killer Kiritsugu Emiya. I think that he is a master too in this war, most likely summoning something like Assassin to support Saber. The only people who are all alone in this war are the two of us."

"Hmm… so the best course of action is to ally with the other person who is now alone, right?"

"It's not a bad option, but there is a high chance that his servant is Caster, who is effective against my Berserker class, or Assassin, who can and will backstab us at any given moment. No, I want to ally with the Einzbern master. They will keep us alive for long enough to execute our plans, if only because they will probably think that we don't know about Emiya and his servant. If we play our cards right, we can use this alliance to break up the Tohsaka and demolish the Einzbern. Now all we need to do is to establish this alliance…"

**[4****th**** of January, 10:53]**

When Archer returned home from his battle with Lancer and Saber last night he was thoroughly scolded at for "Failing to kill a heavily wounded enemy and her master." While Tokiomi's rage was slightly alleviated after Archer informed him that the white-haired Einzbern only acted as a proxy master, and that the real master was someone else. This gave Tokiomi some food for thought: If the Einzbern master was a fake, then would that mean that they didn't have a premade double master-servant alliance with the magus killer? Was there really only one master among the Einzbern, just Emiya Kiritsugu?

Lost in thought about this new and unexpected development, he told Archer to complete his grieving tonight and be ready for a new mission in the morning.

Archer spent the whole night to finish his grief for his fallen comrade in arms. When the morning came he stopped, and continued with life as usual until that moment. Tokiomi had given him a new order, to scout and infiltrate the Black Castle. He immediately flew off trough the sky, and after a short flight he landed at the castle's front door.

Archer was quite certain that he was already spotted. After all, he's not Assassin. That's his ally. And unless this castle had specifically mentioned that it is badly or incapable of detecting enemy movements then he was sure that the enemy had already taken precautions. He walked over to the front door, and gave it a kick he knew that was futile. This was a powerful Noble Phantasm that would at leas-

"No. Freaking. Way."

"_Archer, what happened?!" _Tokiomi's voice resounded through Archer's head, a shout filled with worry.

Archer apologized to his master for scaring him before explaining what he saw: four buttons appeared on the massive door at shoulder height, each one labeled with one of the four first letters of the alphabet. Above the buttons appeared the following text in glowing yellow letters:

_Puzzle 001  
20/20 Picarats_

_Oh no! Some__one__ took the money laying on the counter! There were four people there who could have committed the crime. These are their alibis:  
A: B and C didn't commit the crime.  
B: A and D didn't commit the crime.  
C: A and B didn't commit the crime.  
D: A and C didn't commit the crime.  
Only one of these people is lying. Can you figure out who the thief is?_

"Oh boy, it's a puzzle!" Archer happily shouted before he started to think hard about this challenge he faced.

"_So it seems that this servant prevents people from entering with riddles. Hmm… perhaps this servant is famous for his trickster nature…" _Tokiomi was thinking just as hard, the difference being that he was trying to figure out the enemy servant's identity. There was a lot of thinking among the pai-

"Got it!" Archer shouted out as he pressed one of the buttons on the door, corresponding with who he thought that the thief is.

_Correct! You gained __20__ Picarats! _This message showed up on the door right before it opened.

"Aww yeah! I got 20 picarats!" Archer fistpumped, congratulating himself for overcoming this obstacle before moving inside the castle.

"_Archer, what are these picarats you're talking about?"_

"I have no idea, but I got twenty of them, and that's awesome!" Tokiomi facepalmed.

"_Archer, back to topic, what does the inside look like?"_

"Well, it's a massive entry hall… with a lot of doors! That's pretty much it. There are… 5…7…10 doors in total. I'm going to go through, ehm, this one!" Archer pointed to one entirely off to the side, a simple wooden door that looked very simple in design and had no obvious lock on it. Archer stepped to it, and grabbed the doorknob. No reaction. That should mean that this door has no puzzle guarding it.

Grabbing one of his short swords in one hand and the other hand on the knob, he swung the door open to find "A toilet?"

"_Archer, we're not here to take a dump."_

"I know, I know." Archer inspected the room. It was a small room, perhaps 2 square meters in total. There was a basic toilet, white in color, and it was surprisingly clean. Did the owner have some maids or has this Noble Phantasm some self-cleaning ability?

To the side was an air vent, probably to dampen the stinky smell Archer smells. A small wash cabin could be found on the side, and on the ground stood a small ice cream.

Wait…

"Ice Cream!" Archer moved to the ice cream, scooping it up from the ground.

"_Don't touch that, Archer. It was on the floor in a stinky washroom. It's filthy!"_

"But floor ice cream gives you health!" Archer protested. He took the ice cream to his mouth, and took a lick of i-

AMBUSH! Out of the ice cream a hidden puzzle jumped up!

_Puzzle 022  
30/30 picarats_

_An ice cream vendor sells ice cream for the following prices:  
A cone costs 20 cents;  
A scoop costs 90 cents;  
I spent __$7.50__ to buy ice cream for myself and my friends. How many friends are at my side?_

Archer only half-heartedly listened to the puzzle explanation. He still couldn't believe that his beloved ice cream betrayed him. His friend, who always gave him health points when he was low on it and tasted heavenly good left him puzzled! How could this happen?!

In sorrow Archer solved the puzzle. It took him somewhat longer than the previous one, but he still solved it on the first try.

"I solved the puzzle, master. Now shall we go somewhere where I can drown my sorrows? I really want to forget my old love…"

Tokiomi didn't like to see his servant act like that. To prevent that he made the following proposal: "If you stop whining now and start acting seriously, you will get hamburgers for dinner tonight." Tokiomi didn't like… no, that's too soft. Tokiomi despised that commoners' food, that fatty, soggy, dirty thing that should not be in the same category as true food! But if that thing is what Archer likes, then he is sure to exploit that fact to the underworld and back!

Archer straightened his body upon hearing the good news. "Sir yes Sir!" He marched out of the kitchen in a regulated tempo, acting like a real rank-and-file soldier. He marched through valleys, hills, over steep mountains, through the deepest cloves, all to get to the door 20 meter next to his starting point.

Archer touched the doorknob of this door, and another puzzle appeared:

_Puzzle 007  
80/80 picarats_

_A farmer was walking through his fields when he encountered an inhuman being. This being spoke to him: "That which is above you creates me, and that which is beneath you destroys me. What is in your hands both exhausts and insults me."_

_What does the man hold?_

Several shapes of items appeared on the down on the door: From left to right they were: A sword, European-styled as opposed to the blade Saber wields; A wooden torch, lit ablaze and brightening the door; A hat, a beautiful and tall top hat with a red rim; The fourth is a small pottery, it's blue and white pattern suggesting that it is a piece of delftware; The last is a simple water bottle, filled to the brim with water.

All five were perfectly viable things to hold, but only one was the true answer.

As Archer read the puzzle and its answer aloud Tokiomi was thinking of the solution: _"So, I think we first need to figure out what this inhuman being is. And what is above and beneath him."_

…

"_We have a lot to figure out, and this puzzle isn't easy at all…" _Tokiomi sighed. He could solve the previous two, but this one was of a level many times higher than the previous two combined. Hmm… _"Archer, did you figure it out already?"_

"I have an inkling of a clue…" Tokiomi wasn't sure if they should follow it. It is, after all, a small hint… but it is also the only clue they had…

Tokiomi allowed Archer to act on his instinct.

Archer leaned to one of the answers and touched it.

_Incorrect! _

Gah! Archer realized that he was wrong as he saw the picarats that this puzzle was worth drop from 80 to 60 points.

"_That wasn't it, Archer. What did you try?"_

"Well, it was the only thing I thought that would both insult and exh-BLEGH!" Archer noticed that he was now spitting out blood, covering the lower half of his face as multiple droplets splattered on the floor. "What is… what is this?!"

Tokiomi got worried when he felt the sudden drop in prana in his servant. He asked Archer about his current status and the problem he was facing.

"I've… I've lost a quarter of my prana!" Archer's tone was fully of concern and fear, something Tokiomi didn't feel before. He was asking what the cause of it was and how they could prevent it. "Well… let's see, what else has been lowered by… a… quarter…" Archer realized it. The cause of his sudden loss of prana. "Answering the puzzle wrong makes me lose prana? Okay, I can accept that. But a quarter of my health for one wrong answer? That is way overpriced!" Archer was ranting some more about how he disliked this system, with subjects as "9.0 intensity" and "Smash Bros Trophy Shop prices" going completely over Tokiomi's head.

"_Archer, calm down."_ An order that was definite, one that held almost the same authority as a command seal. Upon hearing it Archer calmed down and refocused, asking Tokiomi for his orders. _"It's dangerous to keep on trying a puzzle we do not know the solution of, especially if that puzzle hurts you if you are wrong. Flee from the castle and return to the manor, Archer."_

"Okay, time to return…" Archer stretched his wings, ready to take flight. "I only wish Tokiomi had some sort of heavenly light to instantly teleport me home after the mission is finished. It would be really usefu-" Archer slammed into some invisible wall, crashing headfirst on the ground. "What in Palutena's name? I can't escape!" Archer tried to get out, be he was stuck in some sort of box with walls he could not see nor break. "Does this mean I have to solve this puzzle? NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Both Archer and Tokiomi renewed their puzzle thinking, but they couldn't find an answer.

Was this it? Is this the end for Archer? Will he die from this horrible puzzle? You can find out in the part below!

* * *

In the Tohsaka meditation room Kirei woke up from a long rest. His servant was still sitting in some form of coma, so Kirei did as he was ordered: Don't leave the house and continue observing Assassin. Assassin hadn't moved… at all. Kirei's observations could be summarized as such. Following his stomach, Kirei went to kitchen to make himself a simple breakfast. Some sweet, some spice, and every other thing that people find nice, he combined it all while making sure not to break Tokiomi's flask containing special magical chemical X… which he broke anyways, spilling the content all over his breakfast! Because of this accident he did not get a good breakfast… but three different magical versions of Super Breakfast! Kirei took a taste from the first, some buttery cup thing, and a small bite from the second. He deemed both good enough to fill his stomach. Perhaps even too good, as he wasn't sure that he could eat all three.

So he had three plates of food, and he only needed two. He also had a servant that was currently in some sort of coma. Putting one and one together he decided to force-feed his servant this third platter. As he was walking back to his room he passed a very distressed mentor of his, who was sweating a lot while nervously walking through his living room.

"Is something the matter, sir?" Tokiomi looked at his pupil and explained the peril he currently found himself trapped in. He explained how the raid went, the puzzles they had already solved, and the puzzle that they were currently facing. Kirei thought about it, his calm mind rationally approaching the subject: "Hmm… those four things that the being is talking about: exhausting, creating, insulting, destroying… I think I know what these are, sir."

Tokiomi immediately set himself straight, and listened to Kirei with open ears.

"These represent the four Chinese elemental cycles: earth creates metal, metal creates water, which in turn creates wood. Wood creates fire, and to make the circle round again there is fire that creates earth. The exhausting cycle is the opposite, with Fire exhausting wood et cetera."

Tokiomi understood what he was saying now: "I see. So the others stand for the destructive and insulting cycle: earth destroys water, water destroys fire, fire destroys metal, metal destroys wood and wood destroys earth to make it round again. And the insulting cycle is the exact reverse of this cycle… so that is what these four words stand for."

"There was no need for you to explain this all to me, sir." Kirei responded in his usual monotone.

"I know, but Archer is most likely unfamiliar with all of this, so I decided to share this information with him." Kirei understood his mentor's intentions now, and silently returned to the sidelines, deeming it important to silently observe what would happen to Archer.

Back at the black castle was Archer, who finally managed to make something out of the puzzle: "So… if we assume that that being is this… then that would mean that that which insults and exhausts him is… this one!" Pressing one of the items, he waited for the answer:

_Correct! You gained 60 picarats!_

"Booya! Take that you overly difficult puzzle!" Archer swung the doors open, and saw to his amazement what was inside:

That hot temperature, the steam hanging in the air, the damp atmosphere… it all pointed to one thing: "It's… it's a hot spring! Whohoo!" Archer sprinted to the water and jumped in with a big splash. "Ah… I can already feel my health regenerating!" Archer sat in the water, relaxing, enjoying one of the greatest pleasures in life…

…until he felt something tap upon his shoulder. "How can I help you?" Archer asked as he turned to his side, and saw another man sitting there. This one was a man of average height and slender build, with no clothes around his body! Which actually makes a lot of sense, considering that this is a bath they're in. The only piece of clothing left was a tricorn hat atop his head and a white mask covering his eyes.

"Can you please move out of the bath? It's not hygienic with your clothes on, and… hang on, why are you even in my castle?"

"Well, I'm here because of my master's orders. And can I at least stay here until I regenerate my health?"

Rider stood up, angered, and threatened Archer that he would either flee from this castle or die inside of it. A thin rapier was summoned in Riders hands, with its tip pointed at the servant of the bow. Said servant scanned his opponent thoroughly and felt… utter defeat?

"You… y-you may have the longer one, but mine's thicker!" He summoned one half of his bow in his hand taking the form of a short sword, aimed at the enemy in response to his own threat. "And I'm sure I'm still more popular with the ladies!"

"I do not care about your excuses!" Rider became angered. "Leave now and never return, or you will find holes in your throat!"

Archer stood up, and moved toward the exit. "I get it, I get it. I'm only missing a few percent, I'm sure my master can heal them. See ya!" His wings shone purple, and he flew out of the castle, back to his master with his newfound knowledge.

Tokiomi slumped down in his favorite chair, relieved that his servant came out without scratches. Kirei noticed that the scouting was over and returned to his own servant, who as you could've guessed still did not move. He took the food of one of his plates, some sort of jelly-dough-thing, and stuffed Assassins mouth with it. He took the entre plate, and poured it all into Assassin before finishing his own.

He ate, but he felt no enjoyment. He could understand the flavors that were in it, the sweet and the salty, the sour and the bitter; But he could neither like nor dislike it. The only reason he ate was that if he didn't he would die. He found no joy in life. This food was the same as this war, the same as everything in his life: He would finish it, and hope that it will bring him joy and salvation. But it was nowhere to be found. His joy thus far did not exist. There was that… but no, he could not consider that evil as pleasure. A clergyman like himself could never accept it.

As Kirei was busy with the food he didn't notice that Assassin was slowly moving his body: first there were slight movements in the tinier parts of the body: fingers moved up and down, eyelids blinked, a few twitches here and there over the body. The legs soon gained solid grasp over the body, and Assassin stood up from the ground, now capable again of solid movement. Kirei did not expect his servant to stand up and fell over from surprise, landing on his back with a loud thud. He sat up, and looked at his servant who in return stared at him.

Assassin looked at his master seriously, and apologized for his unresponsiveness thus far. "Now then, upon your summoning I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my master?"

**[February 4****th****, 12:20]**

Kiritsugu woke up with a massive headache. His night sleep hadn't been that good, and he would actually like to sleep some more. He knew the risks of such an action. Spending long time in bed creates less time on the field, which means less time to gather information or kill enemy masters. It also increases the time enemies have to ambush him and Saber…

Stepping out of the bed, he went down to the kitchen hall for a few shots of caffeine. Kiritsugu had one rule for coffee: One mug of coffee equals one hour of missing sleep. He spent most of the night cleaning up all traces of his activity, which took him three hours. Because he was sure that the enemy would try to fight this "weak Saber with only one trick" at the castle he had to travel back to the estate that is surrounded by a sea of trees, forcing him to spend another three hours of precious time. He didn't sleep until it was four at night.

When he arrived in the kitchen he noticed Saber preparing brunch for herself and her master Kiritsugu. All dishes were simple things like sandwiches, grilled meat and cans of coffee, tea and juices, but the amount was large enough to last for multiple days.

"Did you rest well?" Saber asked to her master without looking away from her cooking. Kiritsugu took a few steps to his servant so he could watcher cook.

"No, not really. I saw your past." It was a past of many hardships: death, decay, deceit… it was a horrible life; one comparable with his own. Yet Kiritsugu noticed one major difference: the difference between one who fights alone and one who fights together. This dream taught him the pros and cons of teamwork. All in all, it was a good dream… at least until they showed up: "After that two people claiming to be Caster and her master showed up. We had a massive battle that included many weird techniques like massive bullet showers, which were countered by infinite Thompsons, which ma-"

"What?" Saber stopped her cooking, and looked at Kiritsugu with disbelief. What the hell was he talking about?

"Just remember that Caster might be able to attack you from your dreams, Saber. That's all."

"Ah." Saber returned to her cooking, and Kiritsugu took a can of coffee with him to the storage room.

Inside the storage room were half the equipment he was going to use in this war. Guns, explosives, blades, magazines; you name it, and as long as it is used by the military, he has it. Taking some of his coffee, he started with maintaining his high-priority guns. It took him around an hour, but he managed to perform maintenance checks on all of them. Now he had to make sure that all his blade were sharp, especially his conceale-

"Ringring! Ringring!" Kiritsugu stuck a hand in his pocket, and found his cellphone ringing. That could only mean two things: Irisviel is in trouble or Maiya is in trouble. Quickly answering the phone, he listened to whatever these two ladies had to say.

"Kiri, there's an enemy at the gate!" Shit. His gut feeling was right: the enemy would decide to fight Saber. He quickly calmed down Irisviel and ordered her to determine who the master is. "It's a man in a blue hoodie and jeans, entirely covering his face." That rules out Tohsaka, El-Melloi and Kotomine. "He's 170 centimeters tall, and of normal build." That leaves the Matou or the unknown servant. He personally hoped the former, because that was an Ad Hoc magus without skills, and that made him a much easier target. If it w- "He's also waving a white flag." Kiritsugu flinched a bit, before realizing that his preparations might not be necessary.

"Ask him what he wants, Iri." He heard some murmur through the phone, like Irisviel was talking to someone else. "It's Kariya Matou, and he wants to form an alliance. What should we do?" He had to think about this. The question that was raised in his head is the 'Why?'. Why does he want to form an alliance?

Two answers were likely: The first was that he underestimated Saber. He had seen that Lancer mercilessly pounded Saber, and only lost because Saber tricked him to death. This would actually be very welcome, giving him an ally and an advantage against one of the enemy servants. The second option is that Kariya has a counter to Saber's Noble Phantasm. And that would be troublesome.

This meant that he would gain a massive boon for this war, or he would spell his own doom.

Eventually Kiritsugu decided to let him in. If the deal was good for him, than that would be great. If the deal was bad, he would probably kill him on home territory.

One of the cars near the house was sent to the pair at the gates, taking around two hours to both go to the gate and return with the master-servant pair. Arriving at the orchard, it was another one hour walk for them to reach the Castle entrance.

Kiritsugu managed to prepare many traps, just in case, in this span of time. He was quite sure that no matter what the enemy was going to throw at him, he would manage to come out on top.

Ordering Irisviel and Saber to meet the enemy, he took Maiya and went to the surveillance room to observe.

The opposing pair finally entered the hallway of the castle. Both were hooded, the master in a blue hoodie and the servant in a black coat. Their faces were difficult to see, but they let slip that they were Kariya Matou and Berserker during the car drive.

From the top of the staircase descended Irisviel and Saber, the former in her usual gown and the later in her standard combat attire.

"Greeting, representative of the Matou. Why did you honor us with your presence?" Irisviel asked in a sweet yet formal tone, fitting for the heir of a long line of noble magi.

"Please, call me Kariya, miss." Even though Kariya tries to sound normal and polite he fails, for his voice is ragged and his face betrayed the great pains he is going through. "I want to make an alliance with you, Master of Saber!"

"In that case please call me Irisviel, Kariya. Come inside." Gesturing Kariya to follow her, Irisviel guides everyone to the dinner hall, where a variety of different drinks and pastures were displayed. "Please take something to recover from your journey." Irisviel offered all this food as she herself took a strawberry cheesecake with some tea and her servant who took a meat pastry with black coffee.

Kariya took a small chocolate pastry and some water, while his servant simply stood there and took nothing. "I thank you for this, Irisviel, but we are not here to enjoy food. Can we please discuss the terms of our alliance?"

Irisviel understood, and led him to a small sitting corner near the food. "Please sit down, Kariya." Both parties sat down, Irisviel and Saber on one side and Kariya with his servant on the other.

Kariya introduced himself and explained that he summoned Berserker. "I want to get straight to the point: I want to make an alliance with you, that for my part can last until the very end of the war."

Irisviel expressed her interest, but also wanted to know the terms he had, what special abilities he brought to the table and how deep this alliance goes.

"I want a very deep alliance, one that does not move even as the wind sways around. For what my servant is capable of… well, he's Berserker. He hits things really hard, he can take a lot of punishment, and is quick on his feet too. He should make up for the relatively low stats of your own servant, miss Irisviel." Kariya quickly noticed how his words could be implied, and offered his apologies, not wanting to insult Saber.

"None taken." Saber monotonously replied. Irisviel took the lead back, and asked Kariya what he wanted out of this alliance.

"I have two things I want:" Kariya took out a small pill from his jacket, and swallowed it with his water. On cue his servant who silently stood behind him astralized to lower the prana cost on Kariya. "This pill is to temporarily jam the worms inside my body so my gramps cannot hear us. You see, he performs horrible things upon both me and my niece Sakura, torturing us for his own sick amusement. I entered this war to save Sakura, and that can only happen if Zouken is dead. There are two ways for this to happen: Use the grail to kill him or use a servant to kill him for good. However, neither I nor my servant have the means to permanently kill him because of his regenerative abilities."

"So this is where we come in, Kariya?" Irisviel asked with her usual angelic smile. She would make sure to come off as a charismatic master who honorably led this slightly less honorable Saber into battle, one who acted as Saber's voice of reason.

"Exactly. Your servant has a Noble phantasm that instantly kills whatever it cuts. If you use that on Zouken…"

"…He will die, and you and Sakura will be freed."

"Indeed. I will lose my wish for the grail, meaning that if Saber and Berserker are the only ones left they can duke it out for which servant will get the Grail while you will get the Grail no matter which of these servants wins, Irisviel. It would improve your chance of getting the grail to at least a third, if not more!"

"I must say that it is an interesting deal you offer me. Is this the entire deal, or is there some other term you haven't mentioned yet?"

Kariya scratched himself behind his back, a sign that there was something else, something more negative would come out of the mouth of the master of Berserker: "Well, not much of a term, but more of a piece of strategic advisement. You know that the master of Archer, Tokiomi Tohsaka, is most likely allied with Kotomine Kirei?" Irisviel and Saber both nodded, having been informed of this a few days ago by Kiritsugu. "That means that they are the other party with 2 servants. It is in our utmost interest if we break these two up, for which my preference goes out to killing Archer. There is some bad blood between me and Tokiomi, so I want to have him out of the Grail War so I can knock some sense in him. That is all."

Kariya looked at his hopefully soon-to-be allies, who were deep in thought, pondering over this alliance.

Or at least they made it look like it. Irisviel was faking it while Saber was communicating with Kiritsugu to determine the best course of action: _"What do you think, master?"_

"_Hmm…it is a tempting deal, and considering our current status an alliance is a great help. But there feels something off about this…" _Saber agreed. There was something off about this deal.

"_But I don't know the exact problem. What could my instinct be telling me?"_

"_I think that the main problem is with the two offering the alliance: These are a mad servant and a master who should be so much in pain that rational thought should be nearly impossible. However, they come up with a very complicated and well-thought out plan. Doesn't that sound odd?"_

"_Should we kill them?"_ Saber offered to her master. Saber was healed now, and they had the location of battle in their favor. While Berserker might pose some problem Kiritsugu was sure that Kariya would easily die from a few well-placed gun rounds. However…

"_If we kill them right here right now we will most likely be seen as such scum by our enemy that the other four will band against us, and that would be suicide. Killing them will only lead in mutual destruction. If they even thought that out then I am completely sure that someone else is helping them out as their brains."_

"_We lack enough info on them. We have to decide now whether or not we want ally with them."_

"_Ally with them, at least until we manage to break up the Tohsaka alliance. However, stay wary of them; they most likely have some trick up their sleeve against you."_

"_Very well. I'll commence the alliance now."_ Saber pulled herself out of her dreams, and faced Kariya. "I have no problems with working together, at least until Archer has been slain. If the moment arrives I will strike down this Zouken as well, as long as I am given information about who he is and what abilities he has other than his regeneration."

Irisviel acted like she went along with her servant, and offered an alliance in exchange for more info on the worm-man.

"Of course I will!" Kariya face lifted up, a happy innocent smile naturally shining on his face. "But we have to hurry. The worm suppressant doesn't last long. Now about Zouken…"

Kariya explained everything he could about Zouken, and afterwards both masters shook hands to settle the team-up. The duo walked out of the house, discussing where and when they would strike, making up battle plans for the future.

They eventually arrived at the gate, where a car stood to bring Kariya and his servant back. They thanked for the visit, and left for their own home. Irisviel regrouped with her servant, and spoke when the other two were out of hearing range.

"Saber, seems like we have a new friend at our side."

"It seems so. When do we betray them?"

"If I know Kiritsugu… probably when a good moment arrives." The two women walked inside, ready to adapt themselves to the new changes in the grail war…

* * *

**Is Lancer really dead now? He won't come back? And do we get Lancer's stat sheet?**

**Yes, Yes, and Yes again. For the latter, look down below.**

**How the hell was Lancer able to do those awesome things? Heck, how did he even survive Saber's Noble Phantasm?  
Just look at Lancer's stat sheet and you will understand.**

**What happened to Rider's plans?  
They will happen. Later. You'll see. Really. They will happen. Probably.**

**Did Uryu just go on the Chaos path full Megaten style?  
Yeah, he's pretty much going down that road. I wonder which demons he will summon, but I have a feeling that he will eventually summon Angra Mainyu. He seems… very fitting…  
Also, for those wanting to see the Uryu + Caster vs. Kiritsugu fight, perhaps I will write it later in a bonus chapter. If I added it then this chapter would be way too long.**

**Why are you writing this? Is it because o-  
Let me step right in and give you a big NO, because I got the idea before I even knew other Massive Crossovers existed. To be honest, basing your work on another fanfic writer will just create a rehash of the first fanfic. For every type of written fiction, certain rules need to be considered (Not followed to the letter!): Detective stories have the Knox Ten Commandments, and Fate/X-Over fanfics have the same type of rules too. Because nobody has written them down, I will do that down here so you will become a better Fate/Fanfic writer… It's not like I want people to name them "Flaga's Ten Commandments or something", that's totally not why I'm doing this, Baka!**

**1: Keeping one of the original servants in their class is perfectly acceptable. However, keeping Saber has been done to hell and back; Gilgamesh or EMIYA (for F/SN) are also slightly used, but still acceptable. It will even help you, as most heroes use swords, giving you an easier time picking a fresh one.  
2: Differentiate. Different Servants mean different courses of action, and that brings along a timeline of new events. Keeping some early things like the dock battle is acceptable. Things like the Banquet of Kings won't happen with alternate servants, no matter how awesome it was.  
3: Fate/Zero is dark and gritty. Death is common in this universe, so the number of deaths among Masters/Servants/important secondary characters should equal at least 12 (original number of deaths minus 3). Of these deaths at least two morally good non-servant characters should die (Waver/Kariya/Rin/Sakura/Irisviel/Aoi). Fate/Stay Night is more light-hearted, and allows for more people to survive, leaving you with more choice in who will survive and who will not. If you write a humorous version of Fate/Zero, forget this rule.  
4: Servants cannot kill their own Masters. Command seals prevent that. Even if their master is a murderous Uryu or some magus that has only been created for the sake of summoning an interesting servant, they still cannot kill their own masters. They can trick their masters into wasting their 3 command seals, turning them into non-masters which allows the servant to kill them, but they cannot kill their own masters.  
5: The Grail War is created so that only 7 servants will come into existence. At worst there is room for one bonus servant, but a total of 9 servants of more will only increase the difficulty for the readers to keep up with the story. Keep it at seven or eight.  
6: It is incredibly uncommon for a servant to reincarnate like Gilgamesh did, and most would return to the Throne after fulfilling their wish. The only reason a Servant could survive is if they wanted to reincarnate/had to do it to get their wish fulfilled. More than one servant surviving like this is downright impossible.  
7: If a servant survives without the blessing/curse of the Grail, than the prana drain on the master will be large enough that even F/SN Rin would be robbed of most of her prana just to sustain it. Someone like Kiritsugu would be unable to sustain a servant without permanent body damage.  
8: Give each Master and each Servant equal amounts of attention. It shouldn't be clear from the start who is liked or non-liked by the Author, because liked characters have a higher chance of surviving/coming far than non-liked characters, making the story predictable.  
9: A character is allowed to lampshade certain events or lean on the Fourth Wall on occasion. However, this may not be his only trait or even his defining trait. Character who only notice bad narrative devices of the writer are bad themselves.  
10: No references to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That subject had been done to death already. References to other Monty Python works are fine, though.**

* * *

Name: Sanada Nobushige Yukimura

Class: Lancer  
Master: Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi  
Alignment: Lawful Neutral  
Sex: Male  
Series of Origin: Sengoku Basara

STR: A+  
END: A  
AGI: B+  
MGI: C  
LUC: E  
NP: B

_**Legend:  
**_Born as the second son of Sanada Masayuki, he grew up under the banner of the Takeda army. Showing great promise as a warrior, he quickly became a general under his lord Takeda Shingen, to whom he is frantically loyal. He was considered naïve by many of his allies, and needed to be directed in battle often to make him useful. He finds a great rival in Date Masamune, lord of Oshu, who he fights time and again to see who is the better fighter of the two.  
In battle, he has fought and defeated many great adversaries, and played a big role in the fall of the Oda and the Mori. Battle after battle he fought, some harsh, some easy, but he fought them valiantly and with honor. He is one of the warriors who fought all main regimes of the warring states period, and after a long life of battle died on the battlefield against Tokugawa Ieyasu's army. Heavily outnumbered and having fought to his limit, he let the enemy take his head, claiming that: "I am Sanada Nobushige Yukimura, no doubt an adversary quite worthy of you, but my flames are exhausted and I can fight no longer. Go on, take my head as your trophy." His head was cut off, the only regret in his life being that he couldn't fight for his people anymore now that he's dead.

_**Tactics:**_**  
**Lancer's fighting style is full frontal: One-on-one combat, with no tricks or cheating involved. He is naïve to a fault, and believes that honor on the battlefield in the most important factor in a fight. Because of the low number of opponents, he believes that the Holy Grail War is at best a string of duels, and considerers the usual army tactics he and his master Takeda Shingen use not necessary for such a small number of opponents.  
He has great respect for enemies that will duel him in honorable combat, and is prejudiced against the sneaky Assassin. If he could've designed the Grail war, he would've replaced that class with some sort of bare fisted Brawler.

_**Class Skills:**_

**Magic resistance:** C  
Yukimura Sanada has a magic resistance of Rank C. Aria of two verses and below are cancelled, but beyond that (High Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals) cannot even be defended against. However, Yukimura's speed is high enough to prevent the opponent from using such magic, let alone hit him. This makes his Magic Resistance sufficient for any battle.

_**Personal skills:**_

**Battle Continuation: **A**  
**The strength of vitality in predicaments. Even when inflicted with deadly injuries, he can still fight for somewhat longer. Decisive fatal strikes will still kill the user, although there is a small possibility that he remains alive for a little longer. Effects stack with his Noble Phantasm "Rule of Cool".

**Bravery: **A++  
Negates mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination. At this level it almost borders recklessness. Significant bonus to inflicted melee damage, but lowers defense.

**Duelist: **A  
The ability to fight honorably in duels. When activated, both Yukimura and his opponent gain a rank up in STR, END and AGI; Yukimura also gains the skill Instinct at rank B, which allows him to "feel" the best course of action during combat. This skill can only be activated when both sides have an equal number of warriors. Both parties can only flee if they're ordered to do so by someone of a higher position than them, like their masters.

**Resistance from Fire: **EX  
Due to considering himself a burning soul, Lancer cannot be hurt by any sort of fire elemental damage. As long as the fire that attacks him burns less bright than his own soul, he can use the enemy flames to power himself up.

_**Noble Phantasm:**_

**Rule of Cool: Flames of the Burning Soul  
**Rank: B  
Type: Anti-Whatever it needs to be  
Range: As far as necessary  
Maximum targets: As many as need to be defeated

Yukimura's Noble Phantasm, based on his hot-blooded burning soul. Incurs a rank-up in all stats, and embodies his tridents in burning flames. These flames are neither physical nor magical, so it ignores both physical and magic defense. Gives him access to the skills "Prana Burst (Flames): A", "Rule of Cool: EX" and "Way of the Samurai: -"

Prana Burst (Flames): Allows him to increase his performance by infusing himself with burning prana and instantly expelling it. Increase either defense, agility or attack several times, depending on how it is used.

Rule of Cool: All events that are "impossible" become "possible to realize" as long as the owner of the skill makes it look awesome enough.

Way of the Samurai: Grants him all the fighting skills he knew during life. All these are skills the likes of Tsubame Gaeshi, active skills that have to be activated by saying their name. These cannot be ranked by the system, as there is no weaker or stronger version of these skills.

_**Author's Advice:  
**_Lancer would function like your average Atlus RPG character: Max out a single active skill, and spend the rest of your skill points on stat increases like STR UP, END UP, AGI UP etc. Out of all the servants in the Grail War Lancer has the highest total possible stats by FAR, considering that almost all his personal skills and even his noble phantasm are massive stat boosts. He has a high DPS output, but lacks any true instantly devastating attacks like Excalibur, Caladbolg or Ea, meaning that he only shines in drawn-out combat. His second weakness is his lack of true compatibility against opponents, making him effective against most, but super effective to almost none.  
Compatibility advantages: Opponents weak to fire, warriors who like to draw fights out.  
Compatibility disadvantages: Opponents with OHKO NPs, Defensive NPs that block normal attacks.


	5. Omake 2: He whose name the gods fear

Kiritsugu was preparing to summon his servant, in the way he newly planned: Don't use a catalyst, but let the Grail decide who will be compatible with him. Sure, it might be a somewhat weaker servant, but it's still someone who managed to create a miracle in live and become revered in death; They would still be a powerful servant, right?

Kiritsugu finished the incantation, perfectly recounting every step of it while his wife is watching. As he spoke the last words, he saw the circle flashing brightly, and when it went down a third person appeared in the room:

It was clearly a warrior: It is an older man, somewhere between thirty and forty if Kiritsugu had to guess, and his body is of muscular build. His face is square, with short slicked-back dark blonde hair on top and stubbles down below. Covering his torso is a red leather jacket with ripped-off sleeves, showing of his muscled arms. His pants are equally red and equally leathery, and his feet are covered by brown boots. In his hand he leisurely carries some sort of combination of a rapier and a katana, currently sheathed in a somewhat elaborate sheath. It clearly identifies him as the servant of the sword, Saber.

"So you have summoned me, huh? I would say that you have made a good choice by summoning the peerless swordsman!" He let out a hearty laugh, one that people can make when they are certain of their superiority. He moved over to Irisviel, who was watching the servant carefully. "She's quite the beauty! It seems that my master has a good choice in women too! Hahaha!" He laughed some more, and Kiritsugu clutched his hand. He was angry: not at the servant, he knew that there were enough heroes in history with this kind of attitude to women; no, the real reason behind his rage is that he could not figure out why he would summon a honorable warrior whose main given impressions are his massive ego and lust for women! How this is compatible is completely beyond Kiritsugu.

"Say, uhm, Saber…" Irisviel looked at the servant and the sword in his hand. "That's quite a beautiful sword you have there." Kiritsugu started looking at it too, and he had to admit that it is a beauty that does not belong to the likes of him. It was a well-decorated blade, but nothing excessive that would limit its quality. Its sheet was functional yet beautiful, and it gave off some magical powers.

"Aye, the Mani Katti; a better blade cannot be found in my country! Only the worthy can pull this sword out of its sheath! Heck, even I still have slight troubles swiftly pulling it out!" He handed the blade to Irisviel, allowing her to feel its power before continuing to brag about its power.

…until he heard the sound of metal being pulled out of metal.

Both he and his master looked at Irisviel, who was now holding the unsheathed sword in her hand. Saber's eyes were filled with horror, unable to comprehend what had happened here. Kiritsugu was also surprised, but somewhat less so than his servant. Saber mumbled something about impossibilities and absurdities, and Kiritsugu congratulated his wife.

"Uhm… I… I'm sorry, Saber. I didn't expect that this would happen. It's just that I felt like I could draw it, and so I made a simple motion and then the sword was out!" She lowered her head, offering another apology to both her husband and his servant.

Kiritsugu asked Irisviel to sheathe the sword and give it to him. She did as she was told, and Kiritsugu grabbed the hilt… and was instantly hit by some sort of electric shock, forcing him to drop the sword to the ground. Irisviel grabbed the sword once more, and she showed not a single sign of pain or injury.

Kiritsugu quickly decided to give the sword to his wife, altering Irisviel's role from "fake master" to "tertiary assassin". She would be using the noble phantasm to get the advantage on the enemy master in "honorable battles" while Kiritsugu would act as back-up support to kill hiding masters. Saber would simply face the enemy servant, keeping him busy while they kill the enemy.

Having set on their strategy (that Saber didn't like), they set off to Fuyuki City.

When they arrived, something went very wrong. Kiritsugu didn't understand how, but somehow they managed to lose Irisviel somewhere, and she was now wandering all alone through Japan. Saber and his master spend the first day searching for her, but they were unable to find any trace of her. They continued searching for quite some time, only deciding to stop after sensing a servant blowing off its prana in powerful bursts, challenging others to battle.

Saber wanted to respond to this battle, claiming that his peerless sword skill would be enough to take down the enemy servant, even without his Mani Katti. Kiritsugu had no objections, and allowed his servant to fight while he and his other assistant Maiya would hunt for the master of this daring servant.

It took thirty minutes for Saber to arrive on the battlefield, ten to walk over there and twenty to wait for Kiritsugu to get into position. It gave him enough time to figure out who the enemy is, and boy was he surprised:

It wasn't an enemy at all! He was fully clothed in red! The same as him! Their colors are the same, and people dressed in red (like them) should ride together against that blue scum!

He casually walked over to the Lance-wielding servant, greeting him casually: "Hello, my friend! So you are destined to be my ally, it seems!"

Lancer was surprised when he heard this servant speak so causally to him. He noticed that Saber was hiding for some time, unsure why. Perhaps Saber wanted to first scout him before engaging in combat, or Saber was waiting for someone else to accept the duel. But Lancer was sure that eventually he would come out and accept the duel… but not like this!

"I am honored to meet you. While it shames me that I am not allowed to tell you my true name in this battle, I can tell that I have been summoned as the Lancer of this Grail War. With whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"I am but a simple mercenary who is relocated into the Saber class. Now, Lancer, I just have to find out what archetype you are before we can settle in an alliance. Now I first expected you to be a Draug since you wield lances; but you lack the armor for that class, and seem to be much more swift… so what could you be…" Lancer perplexedly looked at the servant, unsure if he should interrupt his ranting. "Aha!" Saber shot up, having found the answer. "You're the Hardin! You're a kind soldier who fights for those he protects and seem to have a good future fighting together with me, but eventually we fall apart and I am forced to lay my hand at you!" Saber was content with this answer, and offered his hand to Lancer. "For now, let us work together to purge our enemies, and then we can see who is the strongest of us!"

Lancer didn't understand this mishmash of words, but he could clearly make out that Saber wanted an alliance against the less honorable servants. Lancer honestly would mind, but the final verdict was not his. No, it was his master that was allowed to choose what would happen… and Kayneth didn't want a possible betrayal.

Lancer's face saddened, and he slapped Saber's hand away. "My apologies, Saber-dono, but my master doesn't want to join you and your cause, and my loyalty will never let me betray him. So draw your weapon, all we can do now is fight each other, my friend."

Saber winced, aghast at his realization: "Shit, you're the Camus!" He drew his weapon, a western sword made of some bluish semi-transparent metal. "It pains me to fight you, but I guess there is no other choice left. Very well, let us battle! Draw your weapon, Lancer!" Lancer took out his twin spears, and readied them, both ends now pointing at Saber.

Saber in return let his blade rest on his shoulder, as if he was taunting Lancer. "A lance, huh? I may be at an disadvantage, but my absolute skill will make it through! Here I come! Face the one whose name makes even the gods fear!" Saber threw his sword in the air before he jumped himself, spinning multiple times in the air before catching his sword and diving down at Lancer's head. Lancer used his spears to catch the surprisingly powerful blow, forcing Saber to jump back. Using this opportunity Lancer tried to pierce Sabers heart, but the attack was blocked when Saber casually blocked with his downward-held sword.

Lancer smirked. The first spear kept his sword out of commission, so now he could use his second spear to stab Saber in the heart. He aimed it well, forcing saber to roll backwards. Saber saw this as an opportunity, jumping upwards into the sky once more to land a blow on Lancer, before coming down like a meteor. Lancer jumped slightly backwards, expecting Saber to hit the concrete they were fighting on, giving him an opening to attack once more.

Saber moved down indeed… but he didn't hit the ground beneath him. Instead he stopped himself just in time to move under Lancer's guard and swing upwards. Lancer dashed backwards as quick as he could, hoping to keep the damage to a minimum. He managed to keep it at a small cut over half his abdomen, and he gave a small nick on Saber's face in return. The damage he received was little, and his combat effectiveness wasn't affected. But he couldn't help but feel worried about one thing:

Saber's sword broke off, and now a piece was stuck in his body. He quickly grabbed it, hoping that he got everything out and that there weren't any splinters left. Was this the effect of his sword? Did it contain some poison on the inside? Or something else that would be bad for hi-

"Accursed sword!" He heard Saber shouting. "I have given you the privilege of being wielded by me, the peerless mercenary, and yet you break after three swings? That is inexcusable!" He ranted some more at his broken weapon, complaining about its brittleness. Lancer looked at it, feeling a sweatdrop forming somewhere on his face. He couldn't believe this.

"Saber-dono!" He loudly shouted, returning Saber's attention to him. "I do not know why that weapon broke, but I ask of you to draw a new weapon, so we can battle once more!"

Saber took this invitation, and pulled a seemingly normal iron sword out of… somewhere. "It seems that I have no other choice but to use my weakest blade." He swung once more, but this time hitting the armored jacket of Lancer… and failing to do any damage to him.

Both sides jumping backwards, one because he thought that he was wounded once more, and the other because he realized that he didn't wound the opponent.

"What mockery is thi-"

_Level Up!_

Saber interrupted his cursing as some sort of triumphant music played, and he realized that his HP, strength and skill went up!

Saber grinned, and wanted to attack once more, if it wasn't for a female voice calling out to him: "Saber! I've finally found you!" He looked backwards, and noticed his proxy master… surrounded by a surprising large amount of other fighters:

A group of fifteen people had gathered around Irisviel, who was now dressed in some sort of red cheongsam dress, with brown leather boots and black fingerless gloves. Her hair was put up in a ponytail, and the Mani Katti was held firmly in her hands.

The people around her were all different, but except for two each of them was armed, be it with sword, lance, axe, bow or tome. Three of them were on horseback, and another was even on a legendary Pegasus, for Akashas sake!

Irisviel took some sort of crest out of her pocket and threw it at Saber, ordering him to catch and use it. Lancer didn't understood what it was, at first thinking that it was some sort of noble phantasm of Saber. He twirled his spears round, expecting some sort of powerful attack from Saber that he would counter with his flames.

_Class Change!_

But instead of a powerful attack the crest was absorbed by Saber ,whose entire figure changed:

Gone were the leather clothes. Now he wore a red metal breast plate with spiked pauldrons and arm guards of equally red metal behind a big shield. White pants cover his legs, and red armor covers his hips. And to finish it off there were red greaves covering his feet.

Saber started laughing, and both he and Lancer could feel the surge in power. "I was strong before," boasted Saber loudly, "But now I am even stronger!" He took his sword out of his sheath, and pointed it at Lancer. "I am Glass! The gods fear my name! My swordplay is peerless! Who do you think you are?! What chance do you think you have against me?!"

Saber sheathed his sword again, and threw it together with his shield high in the air. "Critical Att-Argk!" Lancer took this chance to stab Saber in the chest, critting him in return. "You… you… Urr…Urgh…" Saber disappeared in a flash of white, lowering the number of servants in the war.

Lancer relaxed a bit, but kept his eyes out for the mass of people standing around Saber's presumed master. They were dangerous, and they were wielding at least one noble phantasm. They certainly equal a servant together, perhaps even two! Lancer went to his master for help, but there was no contact. He started to sweat, loudly shouting to get a response from master, still unable to find him.

"Lancer" A voice came from behind him, but it wasn't master's. Instead it was a man with black spiky hair in a suit, who brought the horrific news that an Assassin killed his master. Lancer went bleak, and was ready to commit suicide if it wasn't for this man to say that it was Kayneth's last will to have Lancer become the servant of this guy.

Not doubting the will any second, he formed a contract with this man, before they decide to join with the army behind them.

*lv 18 mage Kiritsugu joined you!*

*Lv 15 Sentinel Yukimura joined you!*

The army walked off, and with probably the most powerful servant and an army equaling few servants, the rest of the servants in this grail war were screwed as Kiritsugu went for victory.

Kiritsugu looked back at the location of the war, and muttered a few last words: "Just as planned…"

* * *

Name: Glass  
Class: Saber  
Sex: Male  
Master: Kiritsugu Emiya  
Alignment: Neutral Evil  
Series of origin: Fire Emblem

STR: 5  
END: 3/20  
AGI: 5  
MGI: 5  
LUC: 0  
NP: C

_**Legend:  
**_His birth and home of origin are unknown, but we know that he is a bandit who though endless slaughtering of helpless people believed that he became a swordsman above the level of gods (which he isn't. He's not even close). Finding out about the legendary sword Mani Katti, he decided that such a fine blade would only fit in the hand of someone great. Like him! So after invading the temple that contained it, he nearly slaughtered every single priest before trying the sword. However, the sword found him wanting, not allowing Glass to draw it. Angered, he ordered his brigands to randomly position themselves on the map and slaughter the first guys in blue they see, which were Lyndis, current head of the Lorca tribe, and her vassals Kent and Sain. These three slaughtered every single brigand on the map before killing Glass himself, for that trio another small step to their legends. This is where the story of Glass ends.

_**Tactics:**_  
Tactics? Ha! As if. Other than sitting on the throne and ordering minions to kill every enemy in sight? Non-existent.

_**Class Skills:**_

**Magic Resistance: 0  
**Grants protection against magical effects. In Saber's case, this skill is non-existent, but it has room to growth… very crappy growth of 10% per level, but still…

_**Riding:**_** -  
**Not yet existent, but perhaps on promotion he can learn some neat horse skills.

_**Personal skill:  
**_4

_**Noble Phantasms:**_

**Mani Katti: Critical-Landing Sword of the Worthy**_**  
**_Rank: C  
Type: Anti-Unit  
Range: 1  
Number of Targets: 1 person

The holiest sword that Glass ever met in his life, it is a decent weapon that can only be drawn by those found worthy. It has three special features: it greatly increases the chance of landing critical hits on the enemy, it deals bonus damage against people with heavy armor and people using the riding skill, and it can be used 45 times before it needs to be recharged. Glass cannot use it.

**Unlimited Glass Swords: Infinite Creation of Swords  
**Rank: E~A  
Type: Anti-Unit  
Range: 1  
Number of Targets: 1 person

The ability to create an infinite amount of Glass Swords; each one a powerful weapon… that lasts three hits. Great. Oh well, at least he can create an infinite number of them, even if he can only carry 5 at the same time.

Wait a minute… infinite swords that break quickly wielded by a servant with sucky stats? It's EMIYA all over again! Well, except that this one cannot manifest as a reality marble. Aww…

**Growth: Potential of the Fire Emblem Character  
**Rank: EX  
Type: Anti-Unit  
Range: 1  
Number of Targets: 1 person

The most dangerous Noble Phantasm in the Fire Emblem Universe, the ability to grow stronger!

…

It may seem lame, but those who don't believe in it will soon find out the true power of human's unlimited potential! Owner gains the ability to level up in and outside of battle.

_**Author's Advice:**_  
You summoned a Fire Emblem character! That means that you must travel the world to find allies of several archetypes to help you in your quest against the evil Fuyukian Servants, who are trying to destroy the world!...probably. Travel through multiple countries, pray to the RNG goddess (Her name is Anna, just so you know), change classes, and become the savior of the world! But honestly, don't expect a release outside Japan unless you enter up in Super Smash Bros.

The other option is do what Kiritsugu did in the above scenario, which will also most likely net you a victory.


End file.
